The Confessions of a Belkan Ace
by JohnnyFrost
Summary: A former Belkan fighter ace tells the stories of his frenzied air battles against Osea's best pilots in the Belkan War.
1. Introduction

The Belkan War was filled with intense, deadly, and chaotic air battles that claimed the lives of many pilots, aces or otherwise. If one wanted to survive this hellish air war they had to be one of two things: extremely lucky or extremely skilled. Only the luckiest and/or the most talented pilots survived. Belkan ace Johannes Dietrich was one of those pilots. He was respected by few and hated by many. His antics in the air earned him the nicknamed draufgänger, or daredevil. He lived for the high-flying His stories are true, although hard to believe. A true maverick, he struck fear into his enemies. His feats include scoring thirty-three air-to-air victories and numerous ground targets destroyed before May 30, 1995. He was only twenty-two.

Introduction

It was 1995. It was sometime in the late spring and the Belkan War had reached a new pitch. Our attempt to retake the lands we once had before had ground to a halt. The world seemed to take complete offense to this, even though many of the so-called war crimes were committed were actually fabricated by Osean hubris. They simply could not believe what had happened. It was the only thing that managed to shake them out of their lazy, television dominated lives and jolt them into action. I knew this would not work really. But I fought anyway. Why? Why did we keep fighting? It was simple; I only lived for battle. I was not a warmongering psychopath. We are stereotyped even today, though a fortunate few can overlook this. I was always caught up in the thrill of battle. I wanted the medals, the titles, and everything that came with the thrill of battle. It was in battle that I knew where I belonged. But nothing last forever.

It was in battle that I was forged. I only cared about four things. I focused on my love, my family, my friends, and my kill record. That was all I cared for. So it was on this day where I realized that what I was really doing. I was destroying life behind metal and carbon fiber. But there was a war on after all. It was battle; it was total hell. I killed like a monster would his prey. I had to...or I would be dead; I would have been merely be another statistic. The loves of my life would have been left lonely and teary-eyed. I _could not_ let that happen. I _would not_ let that happen.

I was a part of one of the most illustrious squadrons in Western Belka, the 15th Tactical Fighter Squadron's 23rd Fighter Division; we called ourselves Fauna Squadron...the Beast Squadron. Back then I was 1st Lieutenant Johannes Dietrich. I had been selected to lead this squadron due to my performance in wars in other far-flung lands. We ran wild in the skies over Osea. We were the 17th Fighter Division, and we were the young ones. Our average age was twenty-one. The first days of the war were amongst the most exhilarating. This is because we actually thought we could end this in short order. We also lived for battle...one of the many things that gave a jolt to our monotonous lives. There was no one that could challenge us. We caused so much damage. We were literally bleeding the life out of the Osean Air Force.

However, there was little we could do. I hunted, along with my wingmen, Sienna Blutarch, Santiago Elezeir, Max Sachsenberg, Sayla Hartmann, Freya Lanne, Rafe Rudel, and Alton Galland. We flew in a neat formation in our Mig-29s, and Galland and Rudel in their Tornado GR4 for electronic jamming and air to ground strikes and the inseparable pair of Hartmann and Lanne in their own Mig-29s. I led the group over contested territory we were fighting to hold. We were hunting for the enemy.

For the last several weeks, dozens of planes had been turning in the skies above Hierlark, Wesson, and other major cities in the Great Lakes regions. We would fly out to meet them and engage them. We would not leave until we had destroyed every last enemy. We never left a job unfinished. I split the flight and Lanne moved east taking the other planes with her.

We were at treetop level and hiding below the radar. The environment was that of hills, forests, and rolling plains. I look over at Sienna's plane and see the fifteen kill markings on her plane. I look to Max's plane and see his seventeen. There was also gutsy little Santiago with his eighteen. Then I remember my own, magic number twenty-four. Sienna was the youngest at twenty and Max was older than me at twenty-three. Santiago was the oldest at twenty five. Sienna's eyes and ears were sharp with great attention to detail. She was always the first one to notice the action.

"Bandits, three o' clock." she said.

I looked over to my right and saw the contrails of the enemy. They were very small, but one could still see them.

"Ah, it was just as I expected. Now, time to do what we always do. We wait and we strike hard and fast." I said.

"Let's see how many sheep the wolves can kill. Let's hunt them down!" Max said.

The term "wolf" could apply to any fighter pilot. A fighter pilot is a fundamental hunter. He is, was and always will be a hunter. However, something was wrong. I was getting far more radar intercepts than I expected. Suddenly, I realize what had happened. We had been duped. We the hunters became the hunted. There were no less than sixteen enemy planes against our three. Luckily for us, our fellow aces, the dreaded Geist(ghost) unit were in the area. Lanne's contingent was also in the area and they were about fifty miles from us. But they too had fallen into a trap.

"They tricked us! Well, no sense running now. If it's a fight they want, then at least we should give them our best." I say.

So we jumped upwards to the fight. The enemy had played its hand well. They had several F-15s and several F-16s in their group. Strict discipline kept us together in the fight we dived into the enemy. We were much more skilled than our enemies. But only one thing stood out. That Osean ace was back for a third deadly dance in the sky. The one I faced off against so many times when we as a squadron encountered him. He led the ambush. I heard his voice. I knew it. The others couldn't understand him so well. I knew of what he spoke. That ace was a wily veteran, though he didn't seem older than maybe thirty-three or so. He spoke with a lisp of sorts. Our allies had joined us and the fight was now joined. But he chased me and I chased him. We were so obsessed with killing each other. We both kept getting away from the other. But now, it was 'do or die' time. We fought to a stalemate. His craft was trailing smoke, and mine was as well. To continue would have possibly meant both our deaths. But I had grown to respect the man in such a short amount of time. But all I did for him was to make him angrier and angrier. I felt a sort of sympathy for him. I had finally had what I wanted: a real challenge. I did the unthinkable. I close the open channel on the radio. No one but us can hear.

"Listen, whoever you are. I have a proposal. We both go our separate ways and we fight another day. We're both a bit damaged here." I said.

"You bastard! How dare you have the audacity to ask that!"

"I'm serious. It seems we are at a bit of an impasse."

"Why do you care what happens to me?" he says in a harsh tone.

"Because you are like me. You live for this. We might even survive this. I am just an instrument...just like you."

"Go to hell Belkan. You take down many of my squad mates, guys who had families, and you dare change your mind. Are you insane?" he said.

"Is it any different on the other side? I fight for respect, my own people, the people I care about. But I also live to remove the enemy from the skies...the same as you! We both could have stayed at home..but we both chose to be here regardless...So what is your answer?" I asked tentatively.

"Here's my answer!" he yelled with poison dripping from his very voice.

A group of several AMRAAMs fire towards me. The world slowed...and I dodged them. The interesting weakness of Osean long-range missiles became apparent. They are easy to jam with proper ECM devices. They fired where I was and they miss. I fired my own Archer...and I did not miss. The man was in his death throes. I cursed at him for being stupid. I was a proud warrior, but even I knew when to withdraw. I gave him his chance and he threw it in my face. No, he did more...he spat in my face. Was I all that summed up the perception they had of us? I'll never forget those last words though...that is, before he crashed.

"Kei, Reiko. I'm sorry. I failed you."

I was silent for some time. Who were they? For fifteen years I wondered who they were. I wanted to know who he was. Who was the wife? Who was the daughter? Some part of my mind continues to ask questions even though my attitude changes. My mind had closed suddenly. He was only number nineteen. That man only became a number. I remembered that somewhere a fellow pilot was saying the same thing. If he had killed me, I would be a number to him. What difference would it make? I turn back to the others and I receive a sort of adulation from them.

Sienna came and waged her wings close to my own plane. It was a mechanical affection only we understand. As we turned away from the fight, I was suddenly reminded that we were all alive again. We would return to hunt again.

That was us.

There were many that I knew outside of the small intimate company of our squadron. We are now simply your ordinary people. We are the people you see everyday, every work week, maybe even at your job. We are everything, pilots, computer programmers, sports writers, insurance salespeople, mailmen, public servants and much, much more. Over a hundred pilots fell to our missiles and guns, and yet we all still live. Perhaps our lives are not fair. I still confront those who are still angry at me. We were devils in the air, but on land we were different. We are still prideful of our abilities, but not our accomplishments in particular. So now I will tell you the full story the others told me only I can tell just as well, if not better, than anyone else. But what I say is the truth, as in what I _know_. What I have told you now is only a tiny fraction of the story. Make of it what you wish.

We lost, but we all survived. Many did not. We celebrate our lives because living is a blessing and back then...everyday above six feet under was a good day. There was camaraderie like no other.

Draufgänger, they used to call me. Daredevil. I was a true maverick in the air. I did things no one would believe. For example, I actually made three allied bombers crash...without firing a shot. I merely jinked into one and the pilot (an inexperienced one I deduced) crashed into the others. Few believed I was capable of that. This is the truth, like so many others I will tell. But I am only a piece of the whole. Our great moments were when we functioned as a team...even though from time to time I would disrupt that unity with my insane flying.

My journey would take from a small town in Belka to the proving grounds of the Air Academy in the midst of a political upheaval. I would train and ship out to a distant war for "on the job" training. We would fight for several long months in a mismanaged war, barely surviving to tell the world about it. We were chosen to form a special air unit and we would wreak havoc on the enemy. We flew, trained, ate, drank, sometimes fall in love together, fight together, and sometimes fight each other...together. Then again, we like any other fighting unit anywhere else had do the most obvious thing...we had to kill together. But even with this, nothing lasts forever...

Next Chapter: Trial by Fire


	2. Trial by Fire

Chapter 1: Trial by Fire

_You see things and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?" -George Bernard Shaw _

_**Looking at the Sky**_

It was 1986. The early periods of the political upheaval did not affect those who lived in the rural areas of Belka as I did. However, the economic change was felt by all. Inflation was up to a staggering fifteen to twenty percent. Food was low, and jobs were non-existent. Morale was at an all time low. I grew up in the Gotha region, the area hardest hit by economic strife. Those who survived those terrible times called the Gotha region "the empty bowl". It is interesting to note that Gotha after the war almost never changed, the only differences being that everyone was not begging for food...but the nuclear blasts played havoc with the weather and it is perpetually cold. In the most desperate of cases, some people had to grow up extremely fast as hunger and disease claimed family members. It seems exaggerated, but this is in fact the truth. I know this because four of my future squad mates were from this region. I was more fortunate than they were.

My parents were Michael and Evey Dietrich. Their parents came to his country from North Point, but they did not know why they would leave such an opulent country to come to Belka, which at the time was not the best place to live...especially if you were in the country. Everyday, we'd go out and tend the fields hoping our situation would improve.

Our community was small. Down the street was an old man was a friend of my grandfather. He was a retired soldier who'd tell me his old war stories. He was the first person who would have an impact on my life outside of my family. He would not be the last. When he would come by house, he'd tell me all these stories about his days in the military. He was in the air force, and he'd tell me about the distant lands and things he had seen. This fell right into place as I was predisposed, for some odd reason, to be obsessed with the sky. I'd look at the clouds and try to pick out the shapes. Occasionally, I would see planes flying over. I'd dream about flying with them. But I was only a boy then. It would be a few years before I could live out that dream.

My parents and I survived the turbulent times...but not without a heavy cost. My grandparents died within a week of each other. My sister died at the age of ten due to a disease my parents couldn't afford the medicine for; we sat helplessly and watched her die. My older brother was killed when a group of desperate men beat him to death and robbed him. It was such a terrible price to pay for simply being poor.

Things improved in 1988 when inflation relaxed and one could afford food again. But it was only temporary. However, in 1991 things changed. A sweeping political change overtook the country promising a return to glory and prosperity. No more hunger, no more haggling at the markets, no more shame they promised. I was swept up. I was hooked. Things turned around rapidly; prices fell, jobs were instantly created, and the military was finally marching with its head high. Fighter planes, which I never saw until I was seventeen, would fly over. One quartet of what I later learned to be elements of the 52nd Tactical Fighter Squadron(Rot squadron) in particular would drop leaflets promoting the military; recruitment soared. It was at the moment I would answer that call. I wanted to fly those planes. I went around from place to place to find out about how I could join their ranks. After some exhaustive research, I found the locations of two flight academies, one in Nordhousen and the other in Obersalzburg. My naivete however, prevented me from realizing the obvious truth. I barely had a formal education. I could read and write though. I was a survivor from all those years of farm work and scrapping money together in the harsh drought-ridden Gotha. I thought those three credentials would get me in. I hoped they saw it that way...and much to my surprise they did.

"You're just the kind of person we're looking for." one officer told me. He represented the Suveten Military Academy.

I packed my bags and moved from Talen, my hometown, to Obersalzburg. With a final hug and kiss from mother and father, I left for the world of the military. I quickly discovered that things were going to be much different than I thought.

_**Three Years at Suveten**_

We were introduced to the harsh military lifestyle on the first day. We were rushed into gray, empty rooms and all out possessions taken. We could only keep two items. I had little of value so I kept a large empty book that served as a voluminous diary I kept until the day I was no longer a pilot. But some thoughts are too private even for this. It is why I do not publish them. We were no longer individuals but part of machine programmed to follow orders to the letter and rapidly. A failure to do that, or a failure to perform the task quickly enough, or a failure to perform the task to the way the instructor intended it even though one followed the order to the letter was punished...severely. To make matters worse, we were put into groups of twelve; if one man made a mistake...everyone was punished. The idea was rid us of our individuality and get us performing as a group...as a team. There was the streak of independence in me from my tough years in Gotha. Naturally, one could only suppress that for so long; however, naturally one learns to suppress that again...upon the administration of several "thrashings" from instructors, higher students, and my own group. (And naturally, my short-lived maverick behavior would resurface in my fighter career.)

With eleven others counting on you, you quickly learned to deliver the goods, not just for you...but for everyone else. There were constant drills, marches, classes, policing the barracks, and so many other bizarre rituals of military life; and it paid to be a winner. All the groups competed against each other, the winners got some reward and the losers received additional hours of physical training or drilling.

At first, some part of me felt that this was not the proper learning environment. Groups that were friends were turned into bitter rivals. This..competitive nature was somewhat backwards. It was the kind of stuff you'd expect from mercenaries. But by the end of the first year, things had changed. I wanted to be a winner. I wanted everything. I inadvertently became a leader, and our group was winning everything. We were hated by the others, but we were the perfect team and I made it happen. My selfish intentions made us the vaulted group. Every time I wanted to complain that the march was too long, or the class too boring, or the sleep too little, I remembered the obvious. I remembered where I came from. I did not want to go through that again. So I sucked it up and got back at it...and I got out of it. I made it through the hellish first year. But that was only the beginning.

Over the period of another year, we learned to conduct ourselves as officers. The challenges got harder. We marched, drilled, ran, led, and bled; but we picked ourselves up and did it again the next day while we sang the old academy songs and some we even made up. Finally we were ready for "Hell Week". For seven days, twenty hours straight, we had to prove we could do everything we were trained to do as a group. It was an unrelenting torture of physical, mental, and academic proportions. Only thirty percent of us made it through...and I was one of them.

In the third year, we were given introductory flight training. This happened much earlier than I expected. The average age of the fighter pilot in some countries is twenty-seven. But we were young and eager to learn. We were glad that the mood relaxed somewhat in this phase of training. We were not separated by gender and we formed our own groups or "elements". It was here I met Max Sachsenburg and Sienna Blutarch for the first time.

Max was the muscle. He was very well built and was the leading athletic of the class. He was not someone you wanted to get angry. He was tall, over six feet, and projected his stature well. Yet in terms of leadership, he sort of lagged behind. It seems he would prefer to follow the sly, shrewd, and crafty leaders like myself. But like me, he had this streak of rebellious behavior that was curved over time. He was destined to follow though, and I was destined to lead our small division even before I was given one to lead.

If Max looked like fighter pilot material, Sienna did not. She was the brains. She was a short woman, which was somewhat aberrant since Belkan women average about five feet, seven inches. She barely made five feet and an inch. Her skin was a gaunt, yellowish color and her hair was blonde. Her nickname was banane, or banana; it would stick throughout our short careers. However, despite all this, she could produce the goods. Her small stature hid an inner strength that personified the old maxim, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog."

I struggled through flight training. Everyone did. I was hesitating and full of nerves, but somehow I managed through.

"You're a horrible pilot, Dietrich. You're lucky you even passed the examination!" said one instructor. I would later make him eat his words.

"You're shouldn't be flying fighters. You'd be better off flying crop dusters!" another instructor said. That made me angry. I said something particularly offensive to him about that as it brought up old wounds. I subsequently had to clean the barracks, all ten of them, on my own for a week. But I didn't regret it. He should have known better. It only stiffened my resolve to be a fighter pilot.

But I quickly found that if you stick up for your friends, they'll stick up for you. Most of the people who grew up in the Gotha region helped me along that week, including Max. They understood why they were there. No more hunger. I swore before I left for Suveten if I ever had kids, they'd never go hungry or have to beg to survive. It was the past that made me work harder for the future. We all were the same. This was our motivation and we all banded together.

We learned advanced maneuvers: how to dogfight, how to use the sun to your advantage, how to engage a plane that could turn better than your own, how to dogfight as a group, combined arms tactics, close air support, and more. The training got harder and harder, and we rose to the challenge. Only 37 of the original 100 finished the training. At the time, we felt like an elite few who had survived a great ordeal. But the idea of this low number would later come back to haunt us.

On February 9, 1994 we were commissioned and ready for action. We wanted it all. We wanted the fame and glory of those aces we worshiped. We wanted to fly over the Round Table, over all the other wars that were going on. We wanted action. We were to be obliged...but at first, the action and glory would be a thing of extreme naivete. We would suffer from incompetent leaders, horrible battle conditions, and death. Our new found invincibility would be quickly taken away.

_**First Assignments**_

Verusa was a nation where war was a perpetual issue. It was a melting pot for Communist, democratic, and fascist parties and they had been fighting for control of the country for many years. By 1994, the fighting had worn down. But it was clear that it was a chess board for the superpowers. The Oseans secured the evacuation of the democratic loyalists in 1992. There were only two groups left. There was the Chauzuto Communist Party supported and the Verusa Liberation Army supported by Belka. The VLA was revolting against the corrupt CCP government that had bankrupted the country and victimized its citizens for years. The VLA did not have the advantage of numbers, hence our involvement. I really did not care for the political aspects of it. I wanted to fight. I wanted the medals and the titles. We all did. However, we did not choose this theater of war. On February 18, 1994, the new aviation graduates were deployed to Ciudad, held by the VLA.

We were sent in Mig-21s. They had been improved over the years and received another overhaul in 1993, hence the name Mig-21-93. The higher-ups were in Mig-29s and other advanced aircraft which we would eventually learn to fly. The newer Mig-21 was viewed as a stepping stone to the Mig-29.

The deployment was sudden. I barely had time to visit my parents. They were extremely impressed with my rank and physique. My father did a double take when I arrived. He said, "I didn't even recognize you at first." My mother was not surprised at all. She that my work ethic had seen me through. This I received from my mother, and I was always closer to her because of it. She thought me more than just hard work...she thought me how to keep at it. She always told me to do a job well, regardless of whether or not you liked it. But she saw my smile and my posture...and she knew that I was going to go far. So I kissed her goodbye and told my parents I loved them...and I was off to a distant land.

The changes in me were more than physical. We were full of fire. As I shared in this enthusiasm, I knew I was going into combat and I knew I could die. But that did not deter me. I wanted to go. Everyone was anxious to prove ourselves. But when we arrived in Verusa, reality hit us in the face. It was only a small punch at first, but it didn't take long for the full blow.

We were here for nearly a year. There was no time for transitional combat training. But the operative words were "on the job training". The very thought was utter insanity for most people considering the danger of our profession. I thought little of it though. Had I known it was to weed out the weak...I may have had more apprehension. Despite this, there was the scene of the sky, the prospect of action lured me...so whatever would come...I swore I would take my lumps and go on. I could have stayed home. I chose to be there. I knew any other pilot in any other air force that was deployed in some out-of-the-way place...chose to be there.

The graduates and veterans were split up into two squadrons. The first was based in a town called Chois, just south of the CCP controlled territory. The second was based in the town Daja. But when we arrived at Daja, the glory faded. I'll never forget Sienna's initial reaction.

"My god! This is no different from the town I grew up in!" she said as if it brought back horrible memories. She had every right to say that. Her hometown, on the north shoulder of the Gotha region, was ravaged by a disastrous drought in her youth. Combined with ludicrous inflation and lack of government assistance, her town suffered dearly for all these things they could not control. I felt foolish to dwell on my own background. It seemed impossible to have a famine in a country like Belka. However, everything we went through was little compared to what was going at the time in Versua as we would later find out.

Versua may as well have been an alien planet. It was a dry country, filled with dusty plains and arid valleys as far as the eye could see. When we arrived, we knew we were going to be in for a rough few months. The base was a dusty plain. There was no paved runway. The hangars were old and the buildings few and far between. The only bunkers were the ones in the rear, and our CO set up in them before we could. It seemed unfair because there was plenty of room inside for everyone, even the enlisted men. It would have been somewhat cramped, but in a few days we would find out our ideas were correct. The new officers and the enlisted men had to set up in tents. It wasn't so bad the first day. It was hot and miserable, but we jokingly reminded ourselves that it was just like training. Then the dry winds came. We had to double our efforts to tie down everything. Servicing the planes was a nightmare. The sand and dust got into everything. We all gritted our teeth and went about our duties the best way we could. To pass the time we would do everything from playing cards, playing chess, running laps around the airfield, checking the planes, etc.

We spent the next few days doing combat air patrols over our sector of the line. 55,000 troops were deployed along the central lines. Another 75,000 Erusean troops had joined and were strung out along our left flank. 45,000 VLA troops were on our right flank. We would wait for several days before we went into combat. Our orders were simple. We were to drive the CCP out of Northern Verusa.

We were hooked. What we would face would be tough, arduous, and deadly work. We had the equipment, the morale, the weapons, the planes, and the soldiers. But there was only one problem. The final thing we needed was a good leader...and we did not get a good leader until it was nearly too late.

_Next Chapter: Leaders_


	3. Leaders

Chapter 2: Leaders

The basic battle plan was to clear the way for the ground forces. We were "preparing the battlefield" as most historians would refer to it. It would later be modeled into another not-so successful battle plan some time later...when it was our war. However, we had to get air supremacy or air superiority at least. We had little idea of how well equipped the enemy air forces were. Had we known what was in store for us, we may have had more fear going in.

The enemy's air forces were about equal in terms of strength to our own. Combined with the other coalition forces, we had a force of over a thousand and half planes with five hundred "shooters" or fighters. We Belkans consisted of forty percent of the force, with six hundred planes. They had about just over a thousand and a half with plenty of shooters, approximately seven hundred. However, we were on average less experienced than we should have been.

Our squadron was eighth squadron and we were divided into five divisions. Each division leader was usually the same rank as the others, but with the division title. I was made leader of division five and I was the Division Lieutenant. By the rules and standards of military rank, my friends Max and Sienna would have to follow my orders. Flight Officers Sabe Ballen and Michael Stoff would be subordinate to us. I reported directly to the squadron X.O. Major Selba. And who was leading our grand squadron? Major Jessonseck.

Jessonseck was the favorite of someone up at Wing level command. He had been sent to lead us to get experience leading an entire squadron. He was a very capable dogfighter…or so I heard. That is because none of us rookies never…ever saw him actually lead a mission. We couldn't really say he was a good pilot. We never saw him in combat. We knew he had fought and shot down fourteen planes. We could see this from the markings on his fighter. However, he was a terrible leader.

His highest division consisted of him and his elite wingman. To be on his wing, you had to conform to his impossible demands. But what made him so hated was his sheer pretentiousness. His plane was enough to warrant that. It was covered in bright yellow, blue, and so many other ugly, unnecessary colors. He always flaunted his abilities but when we went on a light we never saw him in the lead. He didn't want rookies cramping his style. He was rude and extremely impatient. He generated a large amount of drama about the smallest things. It was pathetic. His pathetic attempt to lead was causing us great stress. Our biggest fear was that upon the beginning of combat operations, his pathetic attempt to lead would get some of us killed.

He made either made bad decisions or no decisions. And whatever he did never included us. He wouldn't share any wisdom about battles he had, nor would his wingmen. He would just tell stories that seemed so made up, even my own wild tales pale in comparison to Jessonseck's. Jessonseck's autocratic but distant style of leadership reflected the elite status he enjoyed. He wasn't going to give up his status. He was obsessed with his posturing, preening stature. It was only the start of what I considered to be one the three reasons why we lost the Belkan War. The first, and one of the most important reasons, was that as a whole, our air force was far too top heavy.

Combat operations commenced on schedule. We were given a large range of targets to be taken out everyday until the start of ground operations. The interesting thing was that there was little organization as to what the overall objective was. It took me several weeks to learn this. The reason is that_ it took several weeks_. It just strung out far longer than it needed to be. This was the only thing I do not solely blame Jessonseck for. This was because coalition HQ was disorganized. Both sides disagreed on what to do, we kept merging with allied fighters...almost shooting them down. To make matters worse, the CCP fighters we encountered were much tougher than we expected. It was going to be a battle of attrition in the air.

_**The First Clash with Fighters**_

The places we fought were desolate, dry areas spanning for over a thousand miles from west to east. The enemy had fortified their lines of defense. The CCP was digging in and the leader of the Chauzto party was not going to budge. A line had been drawn there...a line that was about to be bombed repeatedly.

We were sent into northern Versua with the mission of gaining air superiority and pounding the ground forces into submission. That seemed easy enough. The problem was that intelligence was poor. We had no idea what truly lay behind that "magic line", or the limits of our defensive lines and the beginning of theirs. So Sienna, being the genius that she was, and myself would pass the boring hours before combat started by memorizing the maps and the landscape. We were determined that if we were going in, we were going to do it right the first time. I remember the night before the invasion started our division had a "huddle" as the Oseans would call it. We discussed the mission details, despite the fact that we were told in lay-man's terms to "go here and bomb this."

"Okay, we have this ridge here for twenty miles, three-four-zero...bank thirty left, new vector three-one-zero. Possible flak batteries...here, here and here. Angels at a constant 11." I said.

"Now, what about any other anti-air? Should we go higher? Twenty?" asked Sienna.

"No, that canyon we can use for deflection at two-seven-five. That would work for all our north targets." said Max.

"Is anyone else using that corridor, sir?" Ballen asked.

"Not certain. You know they don't tell us a damn thing." I say while laughing.

"Amen to that." said Sienna.

We tried to put a bright face on things. Jessonseck had told us little if anything about the mission. We knew that he'd go off hunting the enemy fighters just to increase his kill record rather than help us get to the next mission. We were to be deployed for about a year; however, if we completed a hundred combat missions we could be rotated home. Hope sprung eternal. If we only knew that statistically none of us would survive to our twenty-fifth mission, given the lack of leadership and the threats arrayed against us, we might have run away. However, the nervousness went away. We trained for so long for this, and despite whatever apprehensions we may have had before, we were ready for action.

The first combat operations went smoothly. There was little or no resistance the first few days. Of course, these places had little or no strategic importance. Every day we would scan out "box" or place of operations. Each box had a number and ours was box eight. G-Day, or the start of ground operations, was March 30th. But that was not to be. It was pushed back for one simple reason: no one could agree on anything. The first two weeks were a mess. There were too many untested rookies like us out there. That would become painfully clear on D plus 6.

We'd logged three combat missions while Jessonseck was off on his quest to increase his kill total...and his ego. If he wasn't doing that, he was on the ground "supervising" the action. We would often do missions with third division; they were made up of foreign graduates from Erusea, Versua, and even Yuktobania. The leader of third division was a blond-haired, guitar-playing, Lt. Santiago. Santiago was real leader, but he believed in this higher purpose of combat. It was strange to me that someone of so little experience could come to that conclusion so quickly. Then again, I would soon come to my own conclusion about battle. But the one thing he wanted, and what we all wanted to do as well, was to clash with enemy fighters. Just the idea of it made us giddy. My callsign was Meteor 17, Max's was Meteor 27, and Sienna's was Meteor 31. Santiago's was Jabong 43.

I'll never forget the first time we clashed with fighters. It was the sixth day of the operation. We were doing interdiction against targets farther away than what we were used to. I was angry that day. That was because Jessonseck in his wisdom decided the ordinance used were to be all bombs instead of bombs and air to air missiles. This was foolish. We had been trained to _always _have an air to air weapon at the ready. When I objected against this, as did others, he gave me this arrogant, almost offensive gesture which told me the topic was not up for debate. When he left, I gave him an obscene gesture of my own. What made him even angrier was the fact that he said he was going to provide air cover.

"You're operating in a different sector sir!" said Captain Hesse, second division leader.

In addition, I could clearly see air to air missiles on his fighters and only his fighters. That alone told me his intentions. He didn't want the rookies stealing _his_ kills, which was ironic since he hadn't made a kill the whole time! Hesse later told me he was in a race to beat the kill score of a former rival wingman that had made a huge name for himself at the Round Table. This was a deadly situation.

So it was we were flying down the same canyon to our target when all hell breaks loose.

"Meteor 17 here," I said, "target in sight...commence bombing run."

It was early in the morning, about 0830 hrs. The sky was clear. It was too good to be true. Our target was a group of pillboxes just north of our lines. It should have been an easy mission.

"Meteor 35, I got some contacts on my radar. What are these? Where'd they come from?"

"Probably just some allied planes, 35." said Sienna.

"Then why are they coming from the east? The VLA doesn't have any planes in this sector!" said Ballen.

"Missile warning! Missile Warning!" Stoff yells out.

"Calm down 35! Break!" Max says.

I made a hard evasive maneuver. Here we were, just a mere thirty miles to the target and we get blitzed from fighters right out of the sun...and with nothing to fight back with.

"Let's get out of here!" I say.

But this is fruitless. We're weighed down by bombs. We had a new system to switch from bomb to dogfighting mode...but it was useless since we had no missiles. The only thing we could do was try to outrun them...which we weren't doing a good job of. Stoff had panicked and broken from the lead.

"Stoff! Get back in formation!" says Max in desperation.

He knew all to well we might lose this game. But it's too late. But the time Stoff corrects, he's been shattered by a long range missile. They'd gained on us and the only thing we could do was drop our bombs and head home. More missiles were coming in and we had no cover. One nearly missed me. We were hounded all the way home. The only thing that saved us was the fact we were faster once we'd loosed the bombs. When I landed, an irate Jessonseck was more concerned with the fact that we'd dropped our bombs early than _why_ we did.

"Where were you sir? We had fighters all over our asses! I told you we needed missiles!" I yelled.

But he stumbled off mumbling and angry. Not just at us, but at the fact that he missed all the action. I was angry. We'd lost our first man in six days. I stayed awake that night thinking about the day's events and the funny thing was that despite all that went wrong...I actually liked it. I liked my first merge. I secretly enjoyed it...and I wanted more. But at what cost?

_**Disaster Strikes**_

We were very down as a whole from the loss of Stoff. He had simply had an attack of nerves; he crumbled in the face of the enemy. Or at least that's what Jessonseck told us. He really had no right to say that. After all it was Jessonseck that put into that situation in the first place by his bullheaded decision.

"That man is going to get us killed." said Sienna later the next night.

The grumbles continued as much as the mission did. However, things improved when Jessonseck relented on his decision upon the ordinance. Still, we had little knowledge about what were facing in the air. Jessonseck wouldn't tell us anything. It was becoming an intolerable situation. Then again, we had it even better than the enlisted men and women. They broke their backs trying to keep our planes in the air. The resistance increased from the air and on the ground. After one intense mission with tons of flak, I counted fifty-four bullet holes in my fighter. The ground crews had it infinitely worse than we did. We each our own tents, albeit, very well made tents. The ground crews slept where they could since there wasn't enough room in the one tent they sent us. It seemed as if there a sort of discrimination against the ground crews. I don't know who annoyed Jessonseck more, us rookies pilots or the air force NCOs. But it wasn't just Jessonseck. Selba and Captain Dettman were equally full of self-importance. They were impossible to deal with. Only Captain Hesse seemed to be an officer we could respect. Jessonseck treated Hesse almost as if he was a lowly private and of course, we were all were treated the same way. This was a shameful treatment of a guy who tried to do the best he could under this overbearing major. But who were we to argue? We were the junior officers, who had only been in battle for several days. Few, if any, above Jessonseck would listen to us.

The missions continued, and every now and then we lost someone; a pilot here, a pilot there. By the end of the second week, we had 19 pilots able to fly. Losing a pilot was a tragic thing for us.

However, it wasn't until we lost our third pilot that we realized that the ground crews grieved too. The plane was their livelihood and it was their world. Losing the plane they sweated blood for was like killing their child...right in front of them. I had a much more profound respect for them after those incidents. People were making mistakes because of the constant pressure of the missions; coupled with an ineffective leader and miserable weather conditions, this could only lead to a disaster scenario.

On March 21, 1994, a terrible incident happened. It was a black day for all of us, but some would become heroes…some would die. It was a routine fighter sweep near a place we came to know as "The Devil's Corner." Many air battles had taken place in that canyon of dust and death. It was a favorite place to set ambushes. It was located about three hundred miles in front of our own airbase.

Yuktobania was also getting involved, sending arms and supplies to the CCP. We knew that we were in it for the long haul.

Our entire squadron was spread over a thirty mile area. My division was heading north looking for any enemy fighters. None of us had managed to shoot down a fighter and we were anxious for the chance. Unfortunately, the price we would have to pay seemed to offset that. Santiago's group was to our left. Jessonseck was to our rear. Hesse's group was to our right.

"Bandits! Bandits! 8:00!" said one pilot from Hesse's group.

Suddenly, our radar went out. But I could swear I saw no less than twenty bogey fighters on the radar before it died. We were in serious trouble. We were right in the spider's web.

"I got no visual contact!" Max yelled out.

"6:00! Mig-23, Mig-23!"

"On the left...and on the right!"

"Meteor 1, this is Meteor 8! We've got fighters from in front and behind, currently engaging them."

"I'm hit!"

"On the left! On the left!"

I was lost in the confusion at first. The world slowed to a crawl even as people died all around me. I could hear their screams. The CCP was no longer playing games. I decided to stop playing games as well.

"We're fighting our way out of here! My group, follow me!" I say.

My transformation was complete. I had turned into this idolized figure...a leader. I wasn't afraid of leading, but it was only now I realized I was truly _leading_. I became absorbed in the action. I was determined to get out of here, not just for me, but for everyone else. I also had to get my people back in one piece. But fighters split us up. Soon each of us had a bandit on our tails. We could also see the occasional black puffs of smoke. The fighters were forcing us down into the anti-aircraft fire. I climbed up wards and for the first time, a fighter was directly on my tail and shooting at me. The first clash we had I was not being selectively chosen. Those enemies were not well trained. These Floggers were just as good as we were, which wasn't that good at all. The battle was solely between inexperienced fighter pilots. I looked for him and he was shooting at me. Now it was personal. I was incredulous at the idea that this man was shooting at me. This was much different than the first time we clashed with fighters. I was being singled out. I wanted to kill this man; but there were Floggers, Alpha Jets, and Mirages everywhere. I had no inner monologue. The entire time I was banking, rolling, diving, climbing, and doing everything I could to stay alive.

"I got one on my tail! Watch out! I can't get him off me! Wait...Wait! Oh no!" I said in a panicked voice. I was twisting and turning all over the place. It was a confusing mess of a battle.

The first to go down was Meteor 24. They swarmed him and he didn't have a prayer. Then several others...In a mere four minutes we were down to sixteen aircraft. At one point we all lost sight of each other and it seemed we were fighting our own battles. There were no less than ten aircraft after me. I managed to keep them at a distance, but I couldn't shake them. I'd go high, they'd follow me. I'd go low, they followed me still. I broke left and right looking for any friendly aircraft. I saw a pair of Fishbeds in the distance thinking they were allies...but they were Floggers again! I cursed my stupidity. I turned and saw another plane flash near me. I reacted, locking on to the plane and fired one archer missile as I evaded one missile. As one plane broke, the missile followed it and did a ninety degree turn and hit it square in the engine. I had made my first kill and there was no ejection. I was jubilant. The flak and other AAA exploded all around us. It was the kind of fireworks show a kid would love to see.

Then I saw a friendly plane in trouble. One Flogger was making mincemeat of this person's plane. The communications were endless. I couldn't tell who it was. I fired a second missile as I closed in at full speed. The enemy plane shattered into a million fiery pieces. Then I started to laugh. I was happy. I'd made two kills in a matter of ninety seconds and someone would be going home alive. Then a familiar voice came over the radio.

"Thanks buddy! I nearly blown away!" said Max.

"You all right?" I ask.

"Yeah! I got one of the bastards too! But his friend seemed to object." He responded.

I was happy to see that he was he was alive and well. However, I had yet to check in with the others.

"Let's get the hell out of here! Everyone sound off."

"I"m alive. That Mirage isn't. The girl finally gets on the kills board." said Sienna.

"Ballen? Ballen? You alright?" I asked frantically.

I couldn't believe it. Had I already lost a man, I thought.

"43 here," Santiago said, "He caught a missile in the front. He's gone."

It was like a sledgehammer hit me, but I quickly recovered. I couldn't believe it at first, but I had to get myself together quickly. The enemy was still there. With that, we fled the battle zone. Our losses were equal to our enemies. We lost a staggering eight planes and we shot down eight in return. I made two kills, Max made one, Sienna made one, Herschel from fourth division got two, and Von Kamprand got two. But in the process, we lost some good pilots. The most tragic was that of Captain Hesse, the man who would have been an excellent leader of Jessonseck got it. And where was the guy that was supposed to be leading? He'd been scared off by the sheer number of fighters. Seems Jessonseck was more used to lesser numbers. Maybe he had a severe case of the nerves. I'd had it with him. One of the senior officers made a mention about the incident to high command. He never went through the entire chain to do it, but he got the message across. To follow the exact chain of command would have taken several days...we did not have that.

Jessonseck was replaced the next day and we all breathed a sigh of relief. We finally would receive a decent leader. But looking back on it, we were always the leaders. We had to pick up the slack of the obvious leadership failure thrust upon us. We'd weathered the trying times. Though many of us had died, many of us had lived due to our ability to know what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.

However, there was one strange thing. After the mission, one of the ground crew came up to me and said, "Lieutenant! We heard about the battle. You're not going to believe this sir, but there's no damage to your Mig at all!"

There was tremendous anti-aircraft fire there as well. I didn't believe him at first. We spent the next hour checking the plane. To my eternal surprise, the man was right. There was not a single bullet hole in it!

_Next Chapter: From Zero to Hero_


	4. From Zero to Hero

Chapter 3: From Zero to Hero

I had to evaluate my feelings after the engagement. I knew something was changing inside me. I was becoming the elusive, sure-footed fighter pilot. I wanted more of the insanity of war. I was nearly hooked on it like a drug. But I had yet to gain my infamous nickname. I didn't know that the week ahead would be crucial in how my own personal ethos and pathos would play out for the rest of my life. What began March 22, 1994 was a chain of events whose effects can still be felt today.

The news of Jessonseck's replacement came as if it were a gift from heaven itself. We were infinitely grateful to be rid of him. His replacement was Major Vanderbeek. Vanderbeek was a shorter guy than most, but he immediately gave us a good first impression. Just the mere presence of this man improved morale. As Max put it,

"He can't possibly be worse than Jessonseck."

Vanderbeek was, in fact, light-years ahead of him. We told him about our experiences with Jessonseck. But he did run a tight ship. He was a classic career officer who'd put in a good fourteen years in the Belkan Air Force. But Vanderbeek was more of the old school. It was probably why he wasn't a Lt. Colonel by now. He wasn't a huge fan of the new party. It seemed like there wasn't a part of him that cared about advancing. However, he had every reason to be amongst the "big-wigs" in the rear. He'd done a lot in a decade and a half. He had over forty air to air victories, but he told us that he wasn't interested in running up the kill totals. His priority was for him to get us back in one piece. That was very reassuring to hear. We knew we finally had struck gold. We could become an effective fighting unit at last.

The first thing he did was reorganize everything from the ground up. He moved into a smaller room in the barracks and moved everyone inside. For the first time, we actually had a roof over our heads. I know Sienna was especially thankful. After the previous week's heat wave, she was all but sunburned. We all were to some extent. At least we had a shower, which was the one thing we could be thankful for under Jessonseck's rule.

We improved the barracks; cleaning up the place, putting up the kills board, turning one room into a small break room, etc. Vanderbeek promised he'd get some replacements in. By the 25th, they were landing at our airbase. In a mere three days, our squadron was back up to full strength. Vanderbeek was "on it", as we would say.

We immediately got the rookies settled in and we began practice flights. We designated a strike group to hit targets on the ground, escorted by the rest of the squadron. Vanderbeek was at the head, and we all were glad to see him there. He was obviously willing to share the risks we were taking. However, I knew that his survival depended on our abilities. He was, after all, a man with a wife and kids back home and we were all twenty and twenty-one year old thrill seekers. He had a huge reputation. As bad as we wanted a good leader, we knew how badly we could screw things up. Therefore, everyone performed to their highest ability. The esprit de corps changed in a mere week. Then again, a week can also change for the worst.

**_From Bad to Worse_**

Things were not looking good. On March 27th, the CCP finally counter-attacked. But this was no mere counterstrike; it was a full blown counteroffensive. Due to bickering at the highest levels, we'd be flying aimlessly around the battlefield while the enemy built up at key places. Then they struck carefully and quickly, seizing several cities along the border. The thinly held line collapsed in the east and the major city of Euryidce fell by the end of the week. I remembered the panic at HQ. Everyone was in a state of shock. But then things got organized, and soon an operation to retake the city began.

But this was at the highest level, we knew nothing of this. We were sitting there on the morning of the 27th playing cards when our new G-3(operations officer), Captain Roden, was running to the briefing tent. We saw him through the open window.

"What the heck is he running for?" asked Warrant Officer II Laserp, a replacement pilot.

"I don't know. Just keep playing." said Max.

Here we were playing cards, oblivious to the chaos that was happening all around us. We had been playing for several hours. It was what little we could do to pass the time other than write letters, in our diaries, watch bad television, or check on the planes. Suddenly, a scramble order went out. The air raid sirens blared.

"Move!" I yelled at the guys. We dropped the cards and quickly stumbled over our things trying to get our flight gear ready. A jeep came up just as we exited the barracks and we simply piled on. The jeep drove us to our planes, and we simply jumped off and ran to our Migs. We were off to battle once again.

Most pilots during the period of the Pacific-Versuo Wars were given a short two or three day rest in the rear, or wherever city the command set up shop. However, ours was under attack. The first night of the counter-attack, the northern sectors of the city held until the units at the bridge over the nearby river Sedable were finally overrun. The CCP cared little about its casualties and they kept going on. By the time we arrived, the city was cut in half. We could have interdicted the troops before the bridge fell, but due to bad intelligence and communication, we got there several hours too late. The first pass was a bust after experiencing heavy anti-aircraft fire from all types. Some of the enemy had also captured some of our guns. We were instructed not to attack anything on the ground since there was at the moment no way of telling who was on whose side. We returned to base empty-handed; at least we didn't lose any planes. Vanderbeek thought this whole campaign was completely asinine. This was quickly going to become a slow, painful meat grinder for planes, pilots, and troops on the ground. It didn't help that command was somewhat paralyzed by this attack. Suddenly, the possibility of making a hundred missions seemed non-existent once again.

We heard nothing about what was going on in the city for another three days. We did patrols and fighter sweeps but received no word on what was going on. Finally, we got what we wanted. The city was in danger of complete collapse. But attacks everywhere else had forced us to stretch ourselves thin. During the briefing, it became clear what was going on.

"We're facing attacks all along the line. We keep getting repeated requests for air support, but the problem is no one's cleared us to go. But now command has straightened out all the bureaucratic nonsense and we're going in. The problem is that there aren't enough of us in the center to meet the demand. The enemy has been consistently going after air bases. Lucky they haven't hit us yet. We're just going to have to hold what we can with what we can. And right now we have to hold what this base and we have left in Eruyidice." he said.

That was easier said than done. We were having ammunition shortages due to our squadron being at the bottom of the pecking order. So Vanderbeek ordered all the new pilots to defend the airfield. He would direct offensive operations and his XO would handle the base defense. So we took off hoping that we could break this siege before it was too late.

**_The Red Phantom_**

One of the more interesting battles I had in my life was tangle with a red-colored F-4 during that turbulent period in 1994 Verusa. We had been beating back several attacks mostly by heavily armed helicopters. I remember downing one of them, raising my tally to three kills. But then, more fighter-bombers started to get involved. We spotted a large group of contrails just east of us. Suddenly, they turned to our direction. I accelerated along with my flight.

"Bogeys, they're right in front of us." Sienna said.

"Hostiles?" I ask.

"No! Their hostile! Wait...we don't have any red fighters do we?" she asked.

"Hell if I know!" I respond.

"He's trying to lock me up!"

I pulled back on the stick and climbed sharply. As I completed the loop, I only caught a glimpse of the red fighter. The big, smoky engines, the unique tail...where was the CCP getting those planes? However, that was the wrong time to think about that.

Some planes were armed with long range missiles. One had fired in our general direction. However, I suspected that the missile was poorly made as it simply passed above us harmlessly. Suddenly, we had several enemies on us. They accelerated from below us. We had fallen into an aerial ambush. (It would not be the last.)

"They're everywhere!"

"Stay cool! We can out-turn those junk aircraft!"

"What the hell do you think we're flying in!"

I paid no heed to Laserp's complaining. My concern was that red plane; who he was irrelevant to me. I wanted him out of the way. He was a threat to my and my allies' survival. He was nothing but a target on my HUD. Enemy fighters were everywhere. Vanderbeek's group was off to west. I'm still searching for that plane. Suddenly I realize that I've been tagged. I was so focused on the enemy I didn't see the one behind me.

"Seventeen! Break now or you're gonna die!" he yelled out.

Charmed and touched. I was surprised that my squadron leader was actually looking out for me. I broke out; then I saw it...that red plane.

I had heard many things about that red plane. I heard many rumors. There was the rumor about how he forced an allied pilot to crash into the ground after aggressive maneuvering. There was the one where the pilot was a former prisoner. There were too many. Rumor or not...this man was going down.

"Let's close it up guys. We're going after him!"

Now the fangs were out.

We was at 4000 ft; our fellow ace was at 6000. I went lower and lower. Vanderbeek tells me to pull back. But he's caught up in the mess he's in. After he tells me that the radio goes fuzzy. There was no turning back now. A pair of fighters, one allied and one enemy, flew right above us. I go full afterburner and we turn into the red fighter. I locked up him with a heat-seeking missile and call it out on the radio. The missile hit and the plane exploded in a shower of flame and shrapnel. But then I was suddenly on the wrong end of a surface to air missile.

"SAMs in the air! 7:00 low!"

We dropped a set of flares as we began our defensive maneuvers to keep the interloping missiles from tracking us.

"SAMs off track! Good job buddy!"

I could scarcely believe it. I did all that, and there was still so much left to do. Upon the destruction of the fighter we are suddenly brought back into reality. There were two red planes out there! The other red plane flashed by, an enemy F-4; but the paint scheme, I swear, was wicked. It was still red, but there were other markings on it. I was shocked. How could I have been so stupid? Suddenly, another plane turned into us forcing Sienna into a hard turn and subsequently forcing us into that turn as well. I had no SA(situational awareness) at the time.

"Bandit behind! How the hell did he do that?" Max said.

I don't what overtook me at that moment. Panic and fear overtook me...then solid resolve. It was hims and two more fighters were with him. Another allied plane split between us; it forced us all to break up. Then I saw him firing at me.

I had come nearly face to face with an enemy ace...and I was about to come face to face with death.

"Hold on! I got him!" I heard Sienna say.

Sienna prepared to take a shot. However, there was an uneasy silence broken by an angry interjection.

"Goddamn it! My missiles are jammed!" she yelled out.

She was livid. She was so livid the word "livid" does not even apply. There should have been a new word for that. All of her weapons systems were on the fritz; it forced her to pull out. I was on my own; but if it was a fight he wanted, he'd sure as hell gonna get it.

I wonder what he was thinking about as were turning in the sky in the graceful, deadly chess game that is air to air battle. I forgot how long we tangled. We were perfectly matched, and the dishonor and the brutality faded away. It was a consummate contest. But none of that mattered. It didn't matter that I beat him in a rather textbook fashion after some twelve minutes of trading advantages. He was very good, everywhere he was I was. I'd go low, he'd go high.

I simply pulled back on the brake and let him pass me. Soon his wing was full of smoke. He turned away. This would have been a normal encounter...but it was not. It was the beginning of my transformation into the "Draufganger"...the beginning of my transformation into the "Widowmaker." I could have let him go...but I did not. I fired a missile to finish him off. Then I started to laugh. I'd gone head to head with an elite enemy and come out on top. We had won the battle. It was then I decided I would live for battle. The status of ace was irrelevant at the time. I was finally the man of war. However, that promise of sole devotion was very-short-lived. A certain farmer's daughter would intervene...and it was the start of a long lucky streak.

**_...And her name was Aki_**

"Congratulations. You've made our air force proud." said a high ranking staff officer pinning the ace wings on me."

"Man, you are one crazy daredevil friend." said Max.

Daredevil. That name would stick with me; however, I had not truly earned that moniker yet.

I was only the fifth ace of this nasty little war. I was immensely proud of myself. My abilities had saw me through, and so did my friends. It had taken me twenty three missions, but I had achieved the rank of ace. I did not expect it to come so soon. It was April 9, 1994 and the enemy had finally been stopped. The battle of Euryidce was over. Our side had lost twenty seven aircraft and the enemy had lost sixty seven in the fierce battles over the city. The CCP retreated further north and a cease fire was ordered. Apparently Yuktobania was threatening direct action if we did not cease our attacks. But the Cold War was still on. Thus Osea wasn't going to sit back and allow a communist superpower to gain any more power. Then again, they were not going to allow us to get any more powerful. Erusea pulled out all of its troops and our country sent more in. Sotoa then relieved the Eruseans. The Sotans were politically complex. They were fiercely anti-Communist, but they didn't like Versua at all. However, I guessed they would have preferred a more militaristic state over a Communist country. However, no one in our squadron cared about the complex politics and fierce maneuvering. We were glad to finally get some rest. Command was completely rebuilt and moved farther to the rear and engineers were brought in to improve our airfield. Morale was at an all-time high.

However, we learned that this was in preparation for another squadron to take our place. We were moving to an old airstrip just forty miles east of our position.

We landed at the airfield and took a look around. The airfield was so rough and damaged that we risked a serious accident just landing. It had seen some heavy action. There were craters and wreckage all around.

"Man, this must have been a hellacious place to be earlier in the week." one of the officers said.

"Okay, listen up!" said Vanderbeek, "The workers have to fix this place up too. But the good news is that we have a three day leave in the rear. So get yourselves settled in. But stay on it. We're not sure if this cease-fire's gonna last."

There were a lot of laborers around; they were indigenous people who were paid by the air force to fix up our facilities. Here there were enough rooms for all the officers to have their own. However, as we picked the rooms, we noticed that the Versuan laborers were still cleaning up the rooms. They were not expecting us so soon.

I moved to my quarters with the few things I had. When all of the sudden I heard a high pitched yelp. I was startled at first. There was a young woman cleaning the floor. I took a good look at her as she tried to gather her things. She couldn't have been older than me, and I was certainly young for a pilot. However, she was one of those people you wouldn't forget after you saw them the first time. Her hair was a perfect, long jet black. Her eyes were a glassy blue. However, her clothes were old and ragged. Her skin was covered in dust and dander. It was at that very moment that I realized how hard these people actually worked. But why work so hard for so little? Were they starving? Had the war taken their homes from them? I had to learn.

"I apologize. I...I didn't realize you were coming so soon..." she said.

"That's alright. I didn't know either. They never tell us anything."

"I can imagine." she said.

She was perfectly articulate. Her body language was making me laugh in my mind. She was doing the one thing that only battle could do...make me laugh.

"What's your name?"

She hesitated. I guess she was amazed that I asked her what her name was. I hoped that she wasn't mistreated by the men that were here before us. Perhaps she was honored by my presence.

"...Aki Harani." she said.

She spoke to me with her voice sounding like liquid silver. She was from the local area...and her name was Aki. It was strange name to say the least. The very name is Anean in origin.

"Oh...interesting name. Well, I'm 2nd Lieutenant Johannes Dietrich, pleasure to make your acquaintance."

I shook her hand. Her apprehension was so obvious that if it were a physical object I could touch it. Her hands were shaking a bit. But her skin felt like silk, even with all the dirt and wear on them. The smile, though, was reassuring. She reminded me of the ground crews on our planes. Dedicated and optimistic, they always kept a bright face on things. Aki...I would never forget that name.

Love and battle...they are difficult choices to make. But in reality, they are not. In theory, they cannot fully exist in tandem at the same time in their purest forms. Love is about making and developing relationships in peace, battle is making and developing relations ships in conflict. Love is patient; battle is chaotic. Love creates; battle destroys. Love creates and enriches life; battle destroys and ruins it. Love can create families; battle tears them apart.

All I knew was that Aki was in my thoughts all that night. She left a lasting impression in a short time; something that few women are capable of. I was intrigued. I wanted to know more about her. However, there was no war on at the moment and I had three days to cut loose. What did I have to lose? In a matter of a few days, I'd gone from an unknown to someone who was talked about in every squadron ready room and tavern. My parents were overjoyed at my successes. I was the talk of all the squadron. It was then in the dusty halls of an old air base on the ass-end of Versua that I realized that life was good. Things were looking up...

Next Chapter: _The Birth of the Draufganger_


	5. The Birth of the Draufganger

Chapter 4: The Birth of the Draufganger

The on-the-job training we were getting was brutal and callous. Most armies wouldn't dream of sending untested rookies into battle so soon. The attrition rate was atrocious. Of the three hundred graduates that left Belka, only about 170 of us remained capable of flying; the others were dead or wounded. Statistically, no one had a chance in hell to get to the hundred mission mark. We'd survived twenty-three. Our Mig-21s were heavily damaged from the constant combat and we were also wounded on the outside and inside. We were grateful for the much-needed rest.

_**A Trip to the Wasteland**_

Most of Verusa was destitute from the years of war that had ravaged the land. The regimes of the past had starved their own people and kept most of the wealth for themselves. If one was not in the upper two percent of society, one was in for a hard life.

On the second day of my leave, we went to a town called Disra. This was Aki's hometown, and there wasn't much of it left. Disra was the quintessential war-torn town. This place was the site of many wars over the years. In the latest act of destruction, the retreating forces burned the town to keep the enemy out: the classic scorched-earth policy. It was a depressing scene to us. When I arrived there, I was overcome with feelings of sadness for those who lived here. Aki held it together; I was amazed at her ability to stay completely at ease during this time. There were few men in the town, and everyone was helping to clear away the rubble. The children seemed sad and detached.

Despite her forced stoicism, I was amazed at how goofy and aloof she could be at times. She seemed to remind me of my own youth. Among my friends we laughed and played; however, upon their departure I went to the realm of sadness. There were many kinds of women in Versua. Aki was the kind who would attach themselves to foreign military personnel in hopes they will marry them and take them away from the hell that was their land. A simple, pragmatic solution...but I one I could not blame them for. Some only treated women as objects to be exploited. I refused to see her as an object to be exploited; but, sadly some women were. I wish I could have done something, but I was only one man in a land of people that, for the most part, just did not care. "They" were all here to fight...not to be heroes. Deep inside, I wanted to be a hero in some shape, form, or fashion.

For all my desire for war, I could not turn a blind eye from this. I did not want innocent people caught up in this bloody struggle, but my hubris and naivete were quickly dashed upon the sight of all this.

"As you can see...there isn't much to see here." she said of the complete obvious, "That over there used to be the school. That used to be the church. You know what did most of this-"

As she began to speak again, the air began to rumble. Everyone ran inside. The noise was obvious...fighter jets. They screamed above us at about 6000 ft. There were three advanced black-colored jets in the group. They dived and turned downwards as they came into buzz the town. The roar of the afterburners was so loud that the townspeople, Aki and I were forced to cover our ears and hug the ground to avoid the blast of noise.

"Could they be any louder!? Do they have any respect?!" she said angrily at the rapidly passing fighters. The fighters were definitely new. They were very menacing to lay eyes on. I thought their paint schemes were wicked in nature. I couldn't immediately tell what kind they were.

"Yeah, we try to avoid that. They were probably some arrogant fighter aces buzzing the towns just to show off. I wonder if that was the Geist unit. That wouldn't surprise me. They are always showing off.." I said, "I think they're flying that brand new F-22...no wonder they're showing off."

"F-22? What's that?" she asked, arching an eyebrow in total confusion.

"Oh, it's a plane that's invisible to radar. It's a very fast plane too...but dreadfully expensive." I said, trying to keep it simple.

"...Radar? What's that? Is that a plane or some kind of machine?" she asked even more lost.

I could only laugh. Some part of me was hoping that I didn't have to explain everything I knew about fighters. However, who better to explain it to than someone who is interested? Of course, I couldn't be technical about it. It was rather obvious, if not a bit presumptuous, that I was much more educated than she was. But I didn't go into that. I just decided on an easy out.

"It'd take me forever to explain it to you. I don't want to confuse you. But, this place is unbelievable. I thought I had it bad as a child." I said.

Everyone started to come back outside with the planes having already left. They seemed to resume their lives; it only consisted of cleaning up the mess left behind. It was the only thing that gave them some sense of purpose. I wanted to double my efforts to get Aki the hell out of here...and eliminate every pilot that flew in my way so that this disaster did not happen again. But the heroism was only to a fault. There was that portion of me that wanted to increase my kill total. I still wanted the accolades after all. However, in order to do that the cease-fire had to end. It wasn't going to last anyway.

Aki took me to her family's farm...and the sight there was a painful, but lighter reminder of a life I once led.

"I'm just curious, but did any of the people at the base treat you badly before we came?" I asked.

"Why do you ask?" she asked looking at me.

"Well you remember a couple of days ago. You were nervously shaking my hand. I was under the assumption that you weren't used to that. It was just something I picked up." I said. I shook my head.

"Not really. Some of the younger ones were making passes at me. They were very rude. But most of their bosses were nice...with the exception of one man. He was a older man and obviously had a lot of status in their group. He was so demanding; everything had to be 'just so'. He never thanked me or said a kind thing to me...not even a civil thing. When the base was attacked, a piece of metal hit me in the head and he just stepped over me. I cleaned and scrubbed every little thing in his room...and he just leaves me to flounder on the floor. But are you are so far ahead of him."

"That guy sounds like my old squadron commander."

"He had such an ugly looking plane. The colors were just...it made me sick looking at it."

"I know who you're talking about." I said while laughing. It was obvious to me.

She showed me what once used to be her home. It didn't look like any farm I'd ever seen. There were the decaying corpses of cows, the grass was burned, and the house and the barn were imploded.

"There had been so many battles here. There was one several weeks ago. The planes were turning in the skies over us. My mother and father were in the fields and I was milking the cows. So generic isn't it?"

"Not really. You weren't the only one who grew up on a farm." I said.

"Really? I can't believe it! We were told that the foreign pilots were very professional and well-learned. I figured your people must come from rather majestic lifestyles." she said. I wondered about what she said. It certainly sounded like delusions of grandeur. But it only made me appreciate my own life further...and appreciate the life they had, which was not much. No wonder they were so impressed with us.

"Well it's the truth. I know it sounds strange. Most of the people I fly with came from a barren place that's much like this land. We volunteered to be pilots and we left those lands in search of this better life. But we only did that because we had the chance. So go ahead; the planes were above and..." I said trying to help Aki restore her train of thought.

"They fought and fought and I watched them all...I was facinated by what I saw. I was also nearly deafened by what I heard...and then I watched one go down...on our house. It set the fields on fire. It also set my parents on fire. I heard them screaming...but then I realized that they were gone and it was me that was screaming. Another crashed...there." Aki said sadly pointing towards a field some two hundred feet away. "I was knocked back onto the ground. I don't remember what happened next. All I remember was the burning."

There was a long pause from us both. I knew that such things happened, but I never had it in any sort of context. Until that moment. What I said next was a bit strange...it felt like I was reaching. But I couldn't alienate her from me. I had to establish some sort of solidarity between us.

"Aki," I said, "do you hate me for what I do?"

"Why?" she asked, looking at me, eyebrows arched in her now more common befuddled visage.

"I do such things. I fight those planes up there. You move so fast in them. There is so little time to consider what is below you. You can't...or you'll die. I get excited when I'm up there. I feel alive. I have to do that...because if I don't...I won't live for the next mission."

"I know. I was so sad after my parents had died. But I had an idea about this. If this means that this fighting can end...then there's nothing I can do about it; as if I have any other place to go! So I simply accepted it. What is done cannot be undone. It's been like that my whole life. Just as you accept the chaos of your life...I have accepted mine." she said.

"Then what if I told you that I don't just accept my station in life...I love it. I love the chaos. But...you probably won't understand. If you really do hate me then..." I said.

"I told you I don't hate you. It is just something we all have to do. We all have what we love. I love to sit and watch the birds. You probably won't understand that too." she said looking away.

It was a strange thing. Most would have considered her an ordinary, base female who only knew how to work the land. However, they would have to hear these words to believe it. There was someone else out there that was perfectly fine with the way I lived. If there was ever a time for love at first site...this was it.

Max, Sienna and I lived on the edge of our seats. We were thrill-seekers. We wanted the flaming wreck of the plane. We wanted the medals and the money. We wanted the dogfights. At the time, I never understood how anyone could fail to comprehend that. Was there better way for a couple of twenty-somethings in the air force to think?

"Besides, that plane was a red devilish fighter. I heard someone shot down that fighter."

For all my callousness, I was not a complete braggart. I decided to play a little game with her.

"Yeah...I know him. He's a real nice guy and a class act. He sometimes makes decisions that aren't very wise, but he always gets the job done. I'm sure he'd like someone like you. Of course, who couldn't?" I said.

"Okay, you can stop the joking. I knew it was you. I hesitated when I met you because I was shocked. I didn't think you would show up."

"You knew me?" I asked in shock.

"The base was talking about you. That man who you said was your old boss said some rather nasty things about you. Was he jealous?" Aki asked.

"I don't know. He's just an annoying, arrogant man. Maybe he wanted the glory for himself." I replied.

"He called you something...Drauf-something. I forget. He was very upset about it."

"I can imagine. I had so much fun pissing him off." I said, trailing off.

It was bizarre. It was the second time in my life I had talked to a woman so casually. The other was Sienna, and she was no prospective girlfriend since she had someone else to call her own. In a matter of four days, I'd fallen in love for someone. Such thinking is insane to the average person. Then again...I may have always been insane; and insanity has its benefits, as I would come to find out soon.

_**The Scar**_

The Scar was a seventy mile long canyon that was a mile deep. It was both above and below sea level. It was the scene of a massive earthquake about a century prior. The valley stretched from west to east and extended to the areas we used to patrol at our old air base. There were narrow and wide canyons, mountains, mesas, honeycombed caves and tunnels. Not even the Round Table had such varied arid features. We came to call this "Wild West Territory." And it was here where we would spend the some of the war.

We returned from our rest and relaxation and we felt very refreshed and we were ready to give the battle another go around. With the cease-fire still on, we could only patrol fly; the rules of engagement were strict. For the next thirteen days we flew into the labyrinth of caves and canyons looking for an enemy that was not there; as if we could have engaged them anyway...

A typical flight into the Scar consisted of several flights of four planes spaced about eight minutes apart. There were a few changes in our squadron. Laserp was moved to B Flight and Santiago was relieved of his short command of Division 3. We never found out the exact reason why, but I suspect it had to do his lack of moderated alcohol consumption. He was quite a legend at the bar. He could drink anyone under the table. Yet despite his drinking, he preformed his duties well. He flew with a distinction...one that Sienna jokingly called, "The Half-Drunk Flying Style". He was always singing and joking around in his downtime. He was notorious for his visits to the makeshift houses of ill-repute in town. He slowly got on my nerves. When he began making lewd passes at Aki, I realized that was the last straw. I decided to lay down the law.

"Look, you can't be doing this anymore. You're on thin ice with command. You're lucky; you know strict Vanderbeek is about this. Just tone it down. Stop drinking on base, period. Wait until the trips to the rear. And stop going to those brothels! You're gonna get VD or something." I told with all the concern in the world.

"You're just mad that your girlfriend likes me more than you." he replied.

"You're drunk right now aren't you? Never mind...it's just a stupid question." I said in frustration.

He was grounded for a few days and another pilot named WO III Gallen Masson was brought in to replace him. Masson was no rookie; he had seen his share of action. He even had a single kill to his name. His old squadron was merged into another one that was coming over from Belka. We called him "kid" since he was only 20; he was the youngest of us. But Masson was somewhat distant. He kept to himself more than we would from time to time.

Journeying into the Scar was nervous and extremely hazardous work. We knew from past accounts that the enemy would hide here and lay ambushes. We would reply in kind. We were strictly ordered to avoid the narrow parts of the canyon. Temptation was unavoidable. It would be here where I would truly earn my nickname. It was April 26, 1994 and the time was about 1130 hrs.

The fangs were back out, but I wasn't the only one with fangs. The enemy was playing hardball once again. We could no longer breeze through the dogfights. It was now or never.

"Look out! On the left! On the left!" someone said.

Two poorly guided radar missiles flew above us. They were so close I could touch them. The plane began to shake as additional fighters zoomed past us. Then, there was something we did not expect.

"SAMs in the air! SAMs in the air!" someone said. There was so much confusion on the radio. It was enough to drive a person crazy.

I caught a glimpse of one of the missiles. Generally during a SAM attack, one would break left or right or go up or down. I generally preferred to go up. The reason why became obvious just a second later. The SAM broke our flight up. Max followed me up and Sienna made a mistake and dove and Masson followed. Soon AAA came up at them. Sienna corrected her mistake and dived up. Masson fortunately followed.

Another fighter screamed at us from up high. I couldn't see it as we broke, but it was firing bullets at us.

"Ah! Two's hit! Two's hit!" I heard Max say.

"You alright?" I asked. I looked over to my right to see Max's left wing was smoking from the anti-air artillery.

"Damn this things gonna come apart!" he yelled out.

"I got you covered, try to limp back if you can. Six, follow me!" said Vanderbeek.

Two more SAMs were fired at us and one exploded behind me. The plane shook violently as I tried to keep the plane level.

"Move your jet! Missile inbound!" Sienna cried out.

I had no SA at the time. I turned the plane upwards and the second SAM erupted behind me. Soon I was tumbling down to the earth. The damage was light, but that was irrelevant. Fighters were below me and above me. I righted the airplane and I found myself in the middle of the deadly "Wagon Wheel". They were circling around us waiting for a chance to attack. I managed to keep them at a distance, but I couldn't shake them. I'd go high, they'd follow me. I'd go low, they followed me still. I broke left and right looking for any friendly aircraft. I saw a pair of Mig-21s in the distance thinking they were allies...but they were the enemy! I cursed myself for my stupidity.

"I need some cover!" I yelled out.

No response. My radio was out. I could see no one I knew and there were several fighters on my tail. They were diving on me like hyenas on a gazelle's corpse. But I wasn't going to be a corpse. I was losing altitude. I saw only one way out...the Scar. I turned my plane downwards and flew at full power for the narrow canyon. I really was insane. I felt like I was in free fall. I had no radio to annoy me and no outside noise to distract me.

The sky suddenly got dark and the rain began to pour. I dived into the canyon and saw the lighting strike. Then in an amazing stroke of natural horror, a lighting bolt struck a rock and it came apart like pieces of a puzzle. The wind was intolerable. I only had one shot. A massive rock slid down the side of the valley threatening to cut off the valley. I accelerated to full power and I slipped out like a bar of soap. I was so close to the ground I could touch it. I didn't even feel the vibration. I climbed out of the canyon and saw that no one was behind me...

Upon my exit from the canyon, and subsequently taking stock of the damage to my aircraft, I began to laugh. I had shaken off the enemy and lucked out with nature's deadly side to defeat them. My radio was still out and the weather was getting worse. So finally I decided to nurse my wounded bird home. It was one of the few wise decisions I made that day. I looked around, desperate to find a comrade; fortunately, they were all withdrawing...so was the enemy. It was quite the chaotic battle...and it wasn't quite over yet.

I spotted one of the Mig-29s flown by the flight leads. I couldn't tell who's it was though. I had to use signal lights to communicate. As we exited the battle zone, I realized that most of us may not make it back on our current fuel loads. I counted the fighters all around me. I only counted twenty-three. We'd lost two in the melee. I hoped it wasn't a friend of mine. Luckily for us, a tanker aircraft was close to our position. We followed it out of the Scar. This was your typical "gas and go", since we only needed the fuel to get back to base. One by one we slid in to refuel, each one taking only a few seconds.

During the time, I was trying to jury-rig my radio to see if I could get it to work again.

"This is Meteor 17, anyone on this net, do you copy?"

"...again...17." I heard over the radio. It was getting on my nerves.

"This is Meteor 17, anyone on this net, do you copy!"

"You've got a really...radio...don't you...Move to..." I heard a voice say.

Finally in frustration, I just banged the panel over and over again.

"Can you hear me now?!" I said frantically.

"Yes, we read you loud and clear. And just for the record, I don't know if you're brave or just damn crazy!" said the Major.

"We've just bounced some targets! Their diving on-"

Suddenly, the giant tanker exploded and consumed a third plane. Several enemy planes had jumped us. I never once considered the possible situation of having to juke away from an exploding tanker aircraft. That was a real shocker.

"Radar's haywire! What the hell?" I said.

It was such a cheap trick. The only option I had now was visual scanning. The formation broke up and I dove upwards looking for that damn ECM aircraft. Max was right behind me. I bared my fangs at the god of technology.

A fighter flashed past me. We had to react quickly to this situation. It could have unraveled very fast if we did not act in a timely fashion.

"Don't lose him! Keep your eyes open!" I said.

"He's not going anywhere!" he replied.

Max had already broken off to engage the enemy. I was multitasking like. I was looking at my six, I was looking at everything in front of me and side to side. I was ready to shoot the first thing I saw. Finally, I caught a glimpse of it. It was a shadow in my eye...but I saw it. I turned hard to the right and I shook off an enemy fighter. I fired one missile at it...but it wasn't tracking. It missed. It was then I realized that this was no ordinary jammer aircraft. He broke hard to right and I followed. I fired again, and again it missed. I finally decided the only way I was gonna get this guy was to get in close. Get close, destroy the enemy and get the hell out. We began to accelerate together. We were in the chase...and suddenly he begins to slow. I realize what he is doing. He expected me to fall for this old trick...the same trick I pulled on the ace I shot down before. I was not born the previous day.

I slowed as well and fired my final missile and this one does not miss. Perhaps he couldn't believe that I wasn't stupid enough to fall for the ploy. I could only laugh once again. I thought if only Aki had truly realized how much fun this was, she'd have a true understanding of my mission. But, she was just a normal person. She was more normal than me, and we both had our issues.

I landed at the base and was so happy to be alive. Everyone else in my flight was alive. We all felt like celebrating, even though the battle was a tactical draw. I had done one of the most insane things in my life, and it would not be the last. I pumped my fist to sky in contempt of the enemy. We all hugged and congratulated each other. Although I got a very caustic chewing-out by my superior, now I had truly earned my moniker. The war of attrition would continue to go on; however, there was rather unusual meeting that would change my career from then on...

Next Chapter: _Sayla Hartmann and the Fifteenth Squadron_


	6. Sayla Hartmann

Chapter 5: Sayla Hartmann and The Fifteenth Squadron

**_An Offer I Couldn't Refuse_**

Despite what had happened before, our battle-hardened unit was placed in reserve for about two weeks. The war seemed to enter yet another "cool-down" phase. I didn't complain; I loved battle, but every so often one needs a break from it. It gave me more time to spend with Aki. When were placed in reserve, we were transferred to a base in the rear echelon. However, it was far away from her hometown and I needed to find away to bring her with me. So Santiago and I devised an ingenious and unscrupulous plan. We had hired plenty of indigenous workers to help us with the things that needed to be done around the base. However, we could only take a few and they were chosen at random. Aki was not on the list. So, we got several of the older guys drunk(Versuan men were suckers for brandy). The next morning, they didn't show up. It just so happened that the last of the five included Aki. Go figure.

It was beautifully executed. In retrospect, what we did was actually a favor to the old men. There were some young officers that were quite rude and disrespectful to them; like they were in a shape to work anyway...

This mischievousness would define my carrer. I was rogue and an excellent pilot, cunning, a lover of a woman and of battle. I was a hedonistic aviator, it seemed.

By May 11, I got Aki a job as one of the assistants in the medical ward. Just as well...a week after going to the rear I came down with a nasty virus. It took a lot of us, eleven in all, out of action. I believe it was from old meal rations. Santiago was so violently ill, he said to me,

"I'd rather be hung over than this."

While Aki was fawning over me as if I were a sick dog, petting me and what not, I caught up with my parents. Constant combat had prevented me from writing to them. I wrote to people rather than talk to them. I believe telephones were overrated. With writing, one's true emotions could come out. So far, things had been normal. Ever since my parents had moved to Obersaltzburg, they were doing fine. I told her about my new obsession.

"...I don't know if it's truly love, but it's getting close. She's strong, honest, compassionate, and patient. She'd have to be; she's dealing with me! And she's just...so...lovely. I have to get her out of this country. This place is dreadfully destitute, even more so than in my youth. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when I saw it for myself. It's so depressing. But I do not complain about the bad conditions. It is something that is needed to be endured to make it. I hope to make you proud yet again."

My feat of insanity at the Scar had earned me the all sorts of accolades. Back home, I had such a following. My entire flight had racked up nineteen victories in sixty-three days. We'd only flown forty-five missions. The planes we fought against were often superior than our own and we paid a heavy price for a tactical draw. Some of us wondered if we were going to make it to our one hundredth mission. I passed the time by telling Aki all my crazy stories.

"So then I came down on the enemy like this. So he climbed and I tried to follow, I had one turn into me so I pulled a S-turn and lost him. But I was totally tumbleweed. I inverted the plane and fired a missile but no luck! Then one flashes past me...Whoosh! They were all over the place. I didn't know what to do. I thought I was going to die."

"So what happened next?" Aki asked.

"So I dived for the canyon and we were going at it. Up and down and side to side we were flying. I pulled under this falling rock and out I came! I was alive and my enemies were not! I never felt better."

"You're lying."

"I'm not. I promise."

"That sounds made up, but I believe you."

"I know."

Our lovey-dovey nature was a sign of the relaxed nature of where we were. I loved kissing her on her forehead. It was sort of a respectful thing to do. While I was a adrenaline-fueled maverick on the battlefield, I was gentleman here. However, this intimate scene broken up with a sudden entrance of a higher-ranking officer...a she. Women were extremely rare in the Belkan military. The Captain was blonde and cropped. She had a mole on the left side of her face. Her eyes were a steely black. Her uniform was completely squared away. Normally, I would have stood and saluted but I didn't really have the strength to do so. Aki quickly removed herself from the room. She paced in front of me, giving me an unblinking stare. What had I done wrong, I thought. She suddenly stopped. I looked fearful; after all, I was in a very compromising position. Suddenly, she cracked a smile and said,

"What was her hurry?"

"Oh, uh...well, I can explain..." I stammered out.

"No need. What, did you think I came to reprimand you?" she said.

"Sort of...ma'am." I replied, nervously.

She laughed hysterically, then suddenly stopped and composed herself. She sat down in front of me and put her feet up on table in front of me, her boots making a loud clang. I quickly realized that this was no ordinary officer. She had several wing crests on her uniform. The crests were a representation of kills. One crest indicated five kills; she had three. She pulled out a small notepad and flipped it up in a nonchalant matter."So you're really him? My name is Captain Hartmann of the Fifteenth Squadron. I've heard so many things about you. I've read your file and see you've been quite the reckless one; however, you lead well..something that's rare over here. I must tell you I would rather be at the Round Table than this place. But nevertheless, I am here and ready to fight...as are you. Command needs some aces for a special unit. Free to fire and move at will. The ability to bypass squadron command, and only report directly to the Wing. How would you like that?"

I couldn't believe it. What she was basically asking me to do was to form an ace squadron...just like at the Round Table. Freedom. Status. Power. How could I refuse?

"What's the catch?" I asked ever so cynically.

"None really. But if you accept, you must be prepared to leave right away. You and your flight. I've already spoken to them. They want in...but they need your consent. The woman...Blutarch told me you'd accept in a heartbeat."

"Sure."

She began laughing again.

"You're nothing if not predictable Dietrich. Now, you need to get well pretty damn quick. We need to get you a new plane." she said.

I was ecstatic. Everything I wanted had just fallen right into my lap. I had this, I had Aki...all that was needed consummate both halves. Both would come sooner than I expected.

**_Allegiances_**

Hartmann then made a move to get up from her chair...but then suddenly stopped and sat back down. She looked right at me.

"There's one more thing I wanted to ask you." Hartmann continued, "What do you think of the other countries?"

"Why are you asking me that Captain? I haven't been to anywhere else besides here."

"I mean...surely you've heard about Osea and Yuktobania; the so-called superpowers. They spend more time building up their resources for a war that's never going to happen. And in the end, they'll scale it back to a point of intolerable levels...then war will hit them."

"If I may Captain, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything. The Yukes are to the north of us. They are preparing to drive their forces south. Osea would probably sit back and watch Yuktobania fall into the mud and laugh. And the Oseans call themselves a tolerant people. A nation of hypocrites they are."  
"I take it you have issues with Osea?"

"Yes. Now I prepare to rant on, so don't interrupt me...I take issues with anyone who plays dirty tricks to fulfill their foolish idea that they have to police the world. They are an arrogant, selfish, materialistic, lazy people as a whole. They are the only country that actually complains about their freedoms; they can never leave well enough alone. The ironic thing is that for everyone that wants change...there are those that want to shoot down those changes and make changes that even more ridiculous. It is almost impossible to have a regular opinion and not have someone jump all over it. It is difficult to say. Their air force is pathetic because it relies too much on bureaucratic practices. Their leaders are preparing to fight the old war rather than a new war. The OAF is a new level of sad. Not to mention the fact that they are relying far too much on BVR. Their pilot training is not rigorous enough. Their response is slow and unprofessional...but...it seems the Oseans are gluttons for punishment. They love to learn things the hard way. They spend too much time on preparation...but if allowed to prepare they will hit back...hard. They are completely incapable of allowing someone else to rule them...even if they could have it so much better. But I suppose it all comes down to their politics..."

Hartmann began to laugh again. She was literally almost doubling over in laughter. I was shocked. This was not typical behavior for an air officer.

"Then again...I suppose everyone does. Osea, Yuktobania, North Point, Erusea, Sotoa...even us. Politics...how boring and base; we have better things to worry about than how to screw over the lower majority of society."

"But you didn't answer my question...what relevance does this have?"

"Do you know why I act like this? Surely you must have thought that this mere lady was acting completely unprofessional. Some people actually care about advancing...I don't give a shit. I don't. I like the company of people that don't care. That's why I chose you. You don't care about a goddamned thing other than war and that...woman you keep around. Believe me, if you actually cared about your status you wouldn't be acting so goddamn rebellious. Don't blame you. It's good to be a minimalist in this line of work...it's much easier when you die. And believe me...it's so much harder for a person who doesn't give a rat's ass about anything to die than someone who does. It's hard for us bad ones to die. That's why it's so tragic when they, the respectable ones, die. I didn't choose your squadron leader for that reason. He's a well respected man in many realms. He's got a family in Sudentor and he has a huge following there. People talk about us because they are either scared of us, or are jealous of our abilities. I want people to care about people that shouldn't be cared about. They enjoy living this...good life."

I couldn't believe the grim message I was hearing. She was far from my own thirst for action. This, Captain Hartmann, seemed like someone who had it all...but actually wanted to die or something. Maybe she loved war more than anything else and wanted people to appreciate those that only cared about the destruction of the enemy, nor for political reasons, but to protect that which we believe, to get more money-or in my case-to be talked about in every home and village. Then again, maybe everything had abandoned her. She felt just as isolated as we all were here in this dry, desolate land. I would give her one thing. She knew where her loyalties lied...

"At the end of the week, a helicopter will take you and your flight to an air base called Luthe in the rear of the rear echelon. I just hope you're well enough to fly."

"Understood. Just one question..."

"You can bring your girlfriend, geez. You think I was going to say no or something?" she said.

"No ma'am, I was just checking."

"I'll get all the details together and you'll be on your way...Arrivederci."

With a sassy wave of the hand, she took her leave. I deduced that this Hartmann was certainly of an arrogant sort. Despite her...issues, she was nowhere near Vanderbeek and light-years ahead of Jessonseck. I knew then she was certainly the best bad officer I would ever have.

_**Learning to Fly the Fulcrum** _

We dedicated all out energy and power to recovering from our bout with that nasty virus. We packed our things and made haste to leave our old squadron behind. The strange thing was Vanderbeek said nothing to me before we left. We only got our marching orders and left like the wind. I had one of the enlisted men, Cpl. Gruber, drive Aki to our new home. She was afraid of heights. It was my first act of elitism; it would not be the last. We flew a long way from our base to the back of the rear echelon. Before we could form the unit we had to learn how to fly an entirely new plane. However, there were few new ones available. We unanimously decided to fly the Mig-29 Fulcrum. The Fulcrum was a very underrated plane. In the right hands and with the proper tactics, it can devastate entire squadrons. We would later prove this. We only had about 200 hours of flying time in the Mig-21, not counting the time we spent in the trainers. However, what we lacked in experience we made up for in zeal.

"I can't believe this! Us...an elite unit! Who would have thought that we screw-ups would be in this position?" Santiago said.

"New planes, freedom to go to any battlefield we want...what god did we please?" said Max.

We arrived at Luche at 1700 hrs. We were amazed by the perks of the facility.

It wasn't battle worn, the tarmac on the field was smooth and not filled with bullet holes. We were blown away.

"Look at this place! We're going to be comfortable here." said Sienna.

We spent the rest of the night getting settled in. A large amount of personnel had transferred out to another air base. We had unlimited room to maneuver. But first, one had to crawl before one could walk. We spent the next three weeks learning the plane and it's advantages and disadvantages. We talked to the crew chiefs on the Fulcrums were to fly. They were good, hard-working guys. Hartmann was in charge of training us. Apparently she'd fallen out with command; in short, they'd had it with her. It was ironic; it was the reason for her reduction in rank that was another reason why we lost the Belkan war: for all it's discipline, the Belkan Air Force tolerated insubordination to a degree unheard of in other armies. Had we done what we would later do...we'd probably be in a military prison. However, not all did. Lt. Colonel Von Luck, the squadron commander, was one of them. Like Vanderbeek, he was of the old school and had no time for mavericks like us. Captain Hartmann could be quite harsh in her criticism, but at other times she was quite humorous.

We had staterooms near the control tower. I set Aki up in my room, and she was blown away.

"Wow...this is the nicest place I've ever been in my life."

Everything was relative, of course. She thought the linoleum floors and air conditioning was sheer luxury like no other. Every day at 0800, we'd muster for our training lecture. Hartmann would tell us about the ins and outs of the Mig-29.

"Now, I'm just here to teach you how the plane works and what it can and cannot do. How you use it is entirely up to you. You all seem somewhat intelligent...and damn lucky if you ask me. You can perfectly take the initiative, succeed, and ...if you take this plane and make it do your will. If you are skilled enough, one day soon you will have the enemy in your gun sights and you kill him! You will be ready to do it again, and again, and again. You will do it...or you will die. Understand?" she said on the first day.

Day in and day out for three weeks we learned every part of the plane. We helped service them and even flew trainers in sole trial runs over the area. Each night I'd go back to my quarters dog-tired. However, Aki was also exhausted at the end of her day. I'd gotten her a job assisting the G-4(supply) officers. She'd have to go around and record everything into inventory.

At the end of the first part of the introductory section, we'd learned the basics of the plane, how to fly it, every part and gear on the plane. Even from the trainers, the Fulcrum felt like a fighter's fighter. However, it had it's problems. One problem was that it was hard to land it. Of course, all Migs were hard to land; we knew this all too well...

It was the near the ending of the last week. The trainers were relatively forgiving on the landings but the real deal was coming up fast.

"The landing is the toughest part. The Fulcrum isn't the best at low speed control as we already know. What you'll want to do is slow down upon landing, but don't slow down too much! Wait until the plane is rolling then slow down. If you brake immediately upon landing, it can break the wires in the gear and you'll smash into the ground. Got that?" Hartmann asked us.

We mumbled in agreement. We were sitting along the outside of the hangar bay and discussing the final details of the plane before the first actual flight the next day. Suddenly, a plane flew right over us. It was trailing smoke. The question was, "Why was it here? Couldn't it find a closer base?" It slowed and circled the airfield to land. Hartmann continued.

"Now, when you take off you need the get the power down so you gain altitude quickly. Take advantage of that vertical thrust; it'll be extremely helpful in scrambles. It takes far less time to take off than it is to land. Now when you-"

BOOOOM!

We heard the ear-shattering crash and turned to the commotion. The plane had crashed on landing and had rolled into another hangar. The flames and threat of explosive ordinance forced us inside our own hangar. After several minutes, a bomb cooked off and exploded. That was even more deafening. As firecrews raced to the scene, Hartmann walked towards the flames, spun around and said,

"I guess we're going to start paying attention now."

There was no need to say that. We got the message. With adjourned early because we couldn't go on any practice flights with the runway closed down.

So I returned to my room and a worried Aki.

"Are you alright? I heard that huge crash outside. It broke the windows where I was!" she said panicing.

"Relax! I'm fine. I wasn't even in the plane; none of us were."

I found myself being smothered in sympathetic hugs and kisses. I did not reject this...who would? I assured her that everything was alright; but for all my bravado, one obvious fact stuck out. I still had not flown the "the real deal" yet. Who knew what was going to happen? The big day was only hours away, and I was here holding a beautiful foreign girl who'd followed me from the hell of the village life to the hell of the combat zone and the hell of the rear echelon. For all my anxiety to get into combat, I could not tear myself away from this scene. Why would I? It was weird, I could sense her passions rising. However, I denied my own...for now. I had to focus all my energy and power on one thing...getting past the first few flights. Despite the relative quickness of my falling in love, it was not quite time for "that".

The next day was a silent scene. We marched to our planes and got in them. I suddenly recalled the conversation I had with Santiago about our "fearless leader". He had woken me up late that night.

"This better be good man. We've got too much to do tomorrow." I said.

"I have a friend up at the fifteenth who knows a thing or two about this Hartmann woman we've been taking orders from." he said.

"Well, what is it?"  
"Apparently she defected from Osea to come here. Could you imagine coming from the most powerful country in the world...to here?"

"How did your friend find this out?"

"He's a reliable person. He has his methods. But this is one fact no one can deny." he said.

"And what is that?"

"Our captain...used to be the commanding officer of Schwarze squadron."

"Holy...you're joking me." I said in surprise.

"Led it from 1986 to 1989. They used to call her the "Widowmaker". That was before they had total freedom to engage friendly units. They were actually just a night-attack unit. They jury-rigged their Mig-31s to carry bombs."

"Wow. No one wonder few liked her. Any association with Schwarze can give you a stigma like no other. So why was she sacked?"

"Actually, she wanted out. She didn't really like where the air force command was going. Ended up in the ragtag units. I think she actually prefers it this way. Of course, there are some rumors that say that psych officers ordered her out since she displayed 'psychopathic' tendencies. Now that's the rumor. The Schwarze thing is the real deal."

"And who is this source?"

"Oh...I can't...Ah hell, but this doesn't leave this room. Got that?"

"Why? I'm your superior officer dammit. Just tell me. What do you think I'm going to tell Aki? She doesn't even know what Schwarze means!"

"Alright, alright. He's a young ground crew guy who puts bombs on the fighters. Name's Soren Hartmann."

"She's got a son?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't have known about that if I hadn't bumped into him the other day. He's here now...however, he was a little messed up by the explosion with that crashed fighter. He's alright, but he'll kill me if he finds out I told you."

"That's funny...she didn't even flinch at all when that happened. Did she know that..."

"He knew she was here, but perhaps she didn't know he was here."  
"Well, that's enough rumors for one night."

As I climbed into the plane...I didn't know what to think of Captain Hartmann. I knew little about Schwarze except what I heard in conversations. The only thing I knew was that Santiago could have been passing along another rumor. Santiago was not the best source for information. The "son" may or may not have been true. But her Schwarze involvement could be proven. Then again...I really didn't care. Sometimes it was good to be bad...and Hartmann had that in spades.

Hartmann's paint scheme was rather evil-looking. It was a mixture of red and black and yellow. She led us in her own Mig-29. She had a very sharp flying style, ironic considering her liberal attitudes towards...everything. However, she didn't lord her abilities over us, nor her rank. We all treated each other as equals.

For the next three weeks we flew over and over trying to perfect our flying. She'd flown in her share of planes over her carrer. We flew in formation and in pairs. We learned quickly, as we had been taught to fly in our eariler training. All day, and some nights, we flew and flew and flew. The missions were so tiring that one time I had to be helped out of the fighter. It was worth it though.

During this time, the war was progressing in our favor. The CCP was being pushed back. Morale increased dramatically. We wanted nothing more than to get in on the action before this mismanaged drama played out to a climax.

After the period of flight training, we moved to combat training.

"The primary advantage to the Mig-29 is the vertical thrust capabilities. It has a rate of climb that equals most other fighters. It's very effective in close range fights. You can force your opponent to fight you or someone else can get behind the enemy. Range is your problem; however, these fighters have devices that can jam enemy missiles. The missile will go where you aren't. Of course, you probably figured that out by now. You can force the enemy to fight on your own terms...nothing can stop you." she'd say.

We flew in mock dogfighting missions. We flew against each other, against anything that could turn differently against our own plane. We practiced bombing runs, usage of the radar missile and the air to ground missiles.

Every so often we'd meet at a certain altitude and the fight was on. We'd be twisting and turning trying to get a lock on the enemy. These were extremely fun.

"Ah, too bad. Better luck next time!" said Sienna winning yet another match against Santiago.

"Dammit woman, you are going down!" Santiago replied, somewhat perturbed by Sienna's taunting.

"Alright knock it off you two. Once again, from the top!" I'd say.

We were all aces and well trained; however, now we were truly flying like aces. On May 30th, the training came to an end. We were now officially elite. We officially made a part of the Fifteenth Squadron as the 17th Fighter Division. We were then promoted...somewhat. Max became the Element Lieutenant who would have Santiago on his wing. Sienna became the DXO(Division Executive Officer) and I was the DCO(Division Commanding Officer). Now the rest was up to us. We were given free reign of the battlefield, with only the 3rd Fighter Wing commanding staff to hold us back and give us another assignment if needed. We would have to fly the normal amount of missions per day, two or three. How was it that a group of young, cocky ace pilots(none of us being over the age of 24) gained so much freedom? We earned it...but we did not deserve it. Perhaps that was why Vanderbeek was so bitter. He'd worked so many years for little. However, at the time...I didn't care one damn bit. The only we needed was a name for our new team...an identity.

Next Chapter: _Fauna Draws Blood_


	7. Fauna Draws Blood

Chapter 6: Fauna Draws Blood

It was June 1, 1994 and Fauna squadron was born. We sat around a small table in the ready room at Luthe. We sat on opposite sides of the table far apart from each other. It was like a scene from a movie. It had been a long day of paperwork, briefings, and coffee.

"So...what do we call ourselves? I mean, look at the Round Table. Schwarze, Gelb, Rot, Schnee, Geist, Flamme...what are we?" I said.

"All right, bear with me. When I'm up there in battle, I feel like an animal. We're hunting down the enemy with all the instinct of wild beasts...So we'll be Fauna. Yes! Fauna." said Max.

"Beast? Now's that's a good idea. I like it! Fauna. Sounds deceiving." said Sienna.

"Fauna it is. Now, squadron colors...I did a design back in the academy for how I would have liked to paint my airplane. I applied it to the planes we're flying...look at this." I said.

I passed it to Max who gave it approving looks. Sienna looked a bit disappointed and Santiago gave me a thumbs up. It was a picture of a jet black Mig-29 with yellow stripes along the top and a red winged monster on the tails. The tips of tail fins were red.

"I like this. This is incredible work old buddy."

"Looks kinda tacky...but it could be worse."

"Awesome. I can live with this. Johannes, you're a genius."

"Well, I have to go inform the wing commander of our decision. We're adjourned."

We all left out positions and shook hands and congratulated each other. However, I had other arrangements to make first. I walked along the long white halls to my stateroom. The meeting with the Wing Commander could wait. When I entered, I saw Aki. She was dressed in her regular nightgown. To the others, I was "damn lucky" to be coming home to a woman every night. Hartmann even got a crack in. Of course, such arrangements were not unusual. It was in this case, considering the lesser number of people at the base.

"I heard about what happened. I'm so proud of you! I've never thought this would happened to us. I mean...this place has been amazing. You've shown me so much in two months than I've seen in my entire life. I mean if it wasn't for you I wouldn't know what radar was or all the other things you've told me."

"Thanks. I didn't realize all that meant so much to you."

"Well, it does. You've done so much for me and surely little me didn't deserve it. I mean, you earned all this."  
"You did too. I mean, you stuck it out with me through thick and thin. I dragged you all over Versua just for little old me. You waited everyday when was out there and could have died out there. You have no idea how much you mean to me." I said.

"I know. But you cannot fathom in your wildest dreams how much you mean to me. Here, us women are property of the man. I've heard bad things about Belka, but it's obvious they can't all be bad. You're the sweetest person ever."

She came towards me and kissed me.

"I...love you Jo."

Jo. My name tended to wear itself out quickly. So I let her call me Jo.

Then suddenly, she undid her gown...and there was nothing underneath it. My immediate thought was...could life be any better right now? What happened that night was something anyone with an decent imagination can easily use to ascertain the events.

**_Hartmann's Secrets_**

The next day I was, not surprisingly, in very good mood. I was on my way to meet with the wing commander. Suddenly, I heard a voice ring out.

"Look at you. You're in a good mood. I guess you're ready to take up your elite status."

I stopped and looked to my right at the very smug Hartmann sitting on the ground with a cigarette in her hand.

"I don't smoke that much. I didn't start until last year...and my nerves are still gone." she said while laughing.

I stood there and looked at her; I was incredulous at this woman. Yet she still impressed me.

"You know, you're the only officer I've ever met who actually made me laugh."

"I've done a lot of things."

I stood there for a few seconds while she looked at me...almost anticipating my question.

"You want to know don't you?"

"What?"

"The rumors."  
"What rumors?"

"Don't play dumb. I know you Dietrich. I know you talked to Elezir about me a few weeks ago. I know you were looking for my son. I even know you got lucky last night. I know you. I've been tracking you since your first day here. So now it's your turn to learn my secrets."

"Fine." I said defeated and surprised.

"Besides. It doesn't matter. I'm done after this war is over."

"What?"

"He probably told you I was retiring. Wrong. I'm getting kicked out."

"Really! They're kicking you out?"

"Well, just out of the squadron. Von Luck's had it with me. So when the war's over I'm out. I guess I'll stuck with a training unit. But I actually volunteered for this for my last job with the fifteenth."

"Because of your..."

"No. They'll say it was for conduct unbecoming of an officer. But that has nothing to do with it. Von Luck's playing favorites and the wing commander's a homophobe...and a bit of a bigot too. Just because I came here from Osea. So I lied and said I was born here instead of the truth that I fled here when I was fifteen. Is that really so bad! So many people like me, including you; you like this foolish old washed-up me. I'm getting kicked out because I'm different! I'd already had enough of the bullshit anyway. But this is my life...the air force. It's all I've got."

I was shocked.

"I can see that puzzled look on your face. Fine. I'll start from the beginning..."

"Now, what I am about to say does not leave this...area. The truth is...well, let me ask you a question. How old do you think I am?" she said.

"Umm...why-" I responded nervously.

"Just answer the goddamned question!" she yelled.

"Forty...thirty-nine. I say that since you look about the same age as my own mom."

"Not as close as I thought. I'm thirty-four actually. People say I look older than I am. Perhaps this is a consequence of my sad life." she said while laughing.

I walked over to her and sat down with back to the hangar wall. She tossed the cigarette she had in her hand.

"Sad life?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm getting personal with you since I only trust three people in the world and you're the only one that's here."

"You...actually trust me?"

"I don't know why. I was born in the slums of Detroit in 1961. My family was Belkan of course. My father was arrested when I was ten; it was a testament to his dark life in the streets. The days of his skull-duggery and drug-dealing caught up with him. After a few years my mother died; I don't remember exactly why. I think it was drugs but...anyway. So I ended up going from house to house and I finally ended up living on the street for about a year. Gangs, slums, the bottom of society; this was where I lived. One day, I was forced into a car by a pair of men. I was taken out and beaten. They had their way with me. I'll never forget it. I got away after I stabbed one of them with a small knife I had. I ran and ran until I ended up across the border. I was sick, hungry, and unknowing of the fact I was carrying that sick bastard's child. So I got to the border and I just collapsed. I thought I was dead for awhile. I was fourteen years old. Osea...land of opportunity." she said, the last lines being said with every bit of sarcasm she could muster.

"So that's why you hate Osea?"

"That's not the whole reason. I didn't start for years. So I ended up at this couple's house. I don't remember how I got there or what happened next. I remember having the kid months later and I let the couple take it. However, the man was in the air force. He told me all about his experiences. I was hooked. I told him that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. He responded, 'Ask and the Luffwaffe shall provide.' So I went through the same hard military school life when I was 17. I came out stronger than ever. My survival instincts served me well. 1981. I bet you were what...ten years old then...nine?"

"Nine and a half actually."

"I had made it through to the good life. I was flying planes and shooting ammunition. I wished it could never end. But...I realized something. I was so obsessed with the chaos I was in. I loved it. I reveled in the glory of war. I wanted to stay in it. So I tried everything I could to keep myself in it. By 1985, I'd become a first Lieutenant. It took me four years to go up one rank! My skill was so much that they put in charge of a special Night Fighter unit."

"Schwarze." I said fully understanding.

"Yes. Schwarze. Back then the unit was at the bottom of the pecking order. So we figured out how to get the most out of our Mig-31s. Three years I ran it. I spent so much time away from my foster family that I basically forgot them. The Luftwaffe was my family now. That's where I met her."  
"Who?"

Hartmann pulled out a picture. In it were her and two other individuals. One was a tall man with long blond hair. The other was a black-haired woman that was shorter than Hartmann and the other man.

"Freya Lanne. The pianist. She used to be my third wingman in the old Schwarze unit before that prick Dominic Zubov took my job. After every mission she'd play these incredible songs on the piano to celebrate. We were the best of friends. Then one night, we had a few Brandies..."

"Okay, you can leave out the details. So you loved her? So what? What's the problem?" I said wanting to avoid too much information.

"Schwarze was re-staffed and most of us ended up in this wing. I was always too much of an individual for Von Luck, who was by-the-book. He intentionally kept me out of the command staff, instead he promoted officers that fit his 'mold'. Arrogant, pretentious and loyal to the new party. My opinion of Von Luck changed when Lanne was shot down during a mission and he wouldn't let me stay to ensure she was alright. We had orders to fall back. I wasn't going to leave her there. But we were in Anea, the snow was coming down...but I didn't care. So I stayed out there as long as I could. Finally, I left. However, no one organized a mission to get her out. It was almost as if she was expendable. I was pissed. Luckily, some ground troops found her...but frostbite had claimed her right leg. Funny...this country can afford massive weapons...but the price for a prosthetic leg is completely asinine. This was three years ago. She's been spending the last three years on crutches. Then they found out about our 'union'...that was it for me essentially. My son hates me. He's all into the new party. When I would visit him, he was very hostile. He wanted nothing to do with me. It's as much as I deserve. I wish I could have done better. I tried. But...they turned him against me, the people I stayed with. Maybe it was because of my...'relationship preferences'. So now I sit here and wait; a ruined, child-less, lesbian maverick waiting for my time to end." she said. I saw her shed a single tear. She wiped it and her forehead in an attempt to hide it from me.

I paused. They were throwing her out for something so stupid. I was boiling in anger. She wasn't an officer at all...she was just a true fighter pilot hanging on to what little she had left. All of it taken away through no fault of her own.

"The whole thing's stupid if you ask me. I mean, this is your life! Who cares what you do in private? I'm surprised that they would give us so much power so quickly, then turn around and throw you out for doing what you thought was right!" I responded.

"And that's exactly why I told you. You'd understand. Von Luck would have turned the other cheek. Even though he was by the book, he understood. But...rules were rules. Now, go have your meeting with Deadbolt. I'll be sitting here waiting out the end of my time."

"No...no...they can't do this! You're the best goddamned pilot I've seen Captain."  
"Welcome to the reality of the Luftwaffe. They promote who they _think_ is the best...not who is _actually_ the best. If they didn't, you'd be down and out too. Don't worry about me. Enjoy your career. You've certainly earned it."

"By the way," I said, "who was the guy in that photo?"

"Oh him? That's Major Jaques Dora. He's the new leader of Geist Squadron. He thinks he's so cool in that Raptor he flies. He won't admit it, but he was a mere nugget when he was in Schwarze. He's so damn pretentious. Oh well. I'd say his overconfidence is going to get him killed one day."

She got up and walked away. But as she did, she said, "And by the way, this meeting never happened."

Suddenly, I was no longer happy. I was filled with nothing but indignation. I wanted Hartmann to stay. It was then I realized that it wasn't about me anymore. It was about all of us. I had to find away to keep her in the squadron. Suddenly...I had an idea. It was brilliant. But first, I had to face down "Deadbolt": Major General Blaskovitz.

I never really had a chance with this guy. He was the wing commander...Major General Blaskovitz. They called him "Deadbolt" because he was very, very strict and hard-hearted. He was definitely a seasoned veteran. The medals, badges and ribbons were seemingly endless.

"Alright. I'll keep this short. I called you here because I needed to hear your final decisions and everything you'll need. From what I see here...seems reasonable. But I say that with haste because your...skills are needed right away. I have a simple job for you group son. There's this enemy ace, we're calling him "Z". He's been tear-assing around the north shoulder of this godforsaken country. We've been trying to wrap up this war for the last few days. This guy though...he's got skills we've never even seen in the enemy. Unfortunately, all the elite units are tied up at the moment. Tommorrow we're launching a major raid into that area. We need you to do a recon flight over the battlezone and shoot him down. Understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. The area is coridinates 330, sector Alpha Sigma. It's a long narrow canyon. You shouldn't have too much trouble with that place. Can you handle it?"

"Yes sir."

"Good."

As he went on, I could only think about how nervous I was. Lieutenants really didn't have a prayer against someone with so much rank.

**_Better Luck Next Time_**  
It was about an hour since I had left. I returned with all the details. Though I was angry at myself for not standing up to Deadbolt about Sayla.

"How was the meeting with Deadbolt?" Max asked me later.

"Man that was an intimidating guy to be around. But he gave me the rest of the details. Now listen up. This ace is called "Z" and he is believed to be with Yukes. He flies in a posse of Hornets….Osean made planes. It's just like back at the Scar. Only this time the guy has some real skills."

"So what do we do?"

"We lay an ambush for him. He's always in this area so we wait for him to show up." said Sienna.

"No. He always shows up after the action. Also if we just sit there, the others are going to think were prima donnas waiting for the real action to begin. We have to make a statement. We're putting out foot in the door and its not going anywhere."

And that was that. We didn't have time to finish the complete paint jobs, so we simply left the black paint on and prepared for the mission. It was actually a simple mission, in theory. We knew that "Z" had red-colored planes. No one in the air force had planes in that color. The problem was that no one told us the attack would be jumping off early. It was our first scramble as a division…on our first day of combat as a division. The flight there was relatively uneventful. We decided to stay to the outside and station-keep, taking out any stragglers on the outside of the battle zone. Santiago tested one of his radar missiles in anger against an enemy target and scored a hit. It was his sixth kill. All the while the battle hung in the balance. The chaotic radio chatter told it all.

"Look out! He's right above you!"

"I can't get a lock on him!"

"Bussard Eight is down!"

"Drossel Four, Fox Three! Look out Nova Three! Get out of there!"

"Turn! Turn!"

"He's trying to drag down, force him up high!"

We waited for ten minutes. However, Sienna's eyesight came through for us once again.

"Fauna Two here, I've got several targets on the horizon. I cannot make it out too good…but they're out there." she said.  
"I've picked up bandits too Boss. Is it them?"

"Diomedes One," the local AWACS called, "Our radio intercept team just picked this up. 'Multiple targets inbound. Zenit 17, take your group right into the left pocket. Everyone else, follow me.' Copy that?"

"Roger. It's him."

"Fauna Three to Fauna One," Max began as he pulled his fighter up to mine, "Those are definitely Yuke callsigns."

The radio chatter became panicked. It was him, I knew it.

We accelerated towards the fight. As we got closer to the battle, the more insane things got.

"This is Meteor One…who the hell? Unidentified aircraft, identify yourself!"

"This is Fauna One…wait…Major? Is that you?" I said.

It was Vanderbeek. I was surprised to see him out here.

"Dietrich! So they gave you your own unit now…ugh…anyway, we could use some help here."

Suddenly…they appeared. It felt like my life was in slow motion for a few seconds. I saw those red Hornets. They were diving on us and all four fired at the same time.

"Break! Break!" I yelled out.

We broke in different directions as the missiles narrowly avoided us, thanks to our flares. They climbed sharply and we followed to engage. They actually had the decency to fly out of the furball. It was going to be a Wild West shootout. They turned as one, just like we would. I was impressed. However, just as the fight began…it ended. Several missiles screamed past us.

"Damn! Break!"

I thought it was the enemy firing on us. However, it was not. I turned back toward the fight only to see our targets going down in flames.

"What the hell?" said Sienna, shocked at the scene.

Our first mission had literally gone up in smoke. Suddenly, a shady voice came over the radio.

"So sorry to interrupt." he said.

"Who is this? How did you get on this channel?"  
Suddenly, three black F/A-22s screamed past us. They were the same planes I saw buzzing Aki's town.

"This is Geist(ghost) One. Looks like we saved the day." he said.

It wasn't the fact he took our kills that enraged me…it was his taunting. Sayla was right about him. But it was only the first of many altercations between us and Geist.

"Too bad Fauna or whatever the hell your name is. This is our turf and I'll be damned if some young upstarts are going to step on our toes. Better luck next time!" he said in the midst of seeming maniacal laugher.

"Son of a…." I said to myself.

I quickly realized that we were the small fry in the ace pool. It wasn't so much a deflating of ego; it was a wake-up call. We were going to have to compete with our own ace squadrons _and _the enemy!

**_A Long Day and A Longer Night_**

I rounded the corner upon the exit from my plane to my quarters. I entered and slammed my jacket on the floor. Aki ran up to me asking me if I was okay. I was not. I was infuriated at the audacity of Geist to interfere with our mission. It wasn't about the kills. It was to prove ourselves and now we would have to wait again. The war was coming to an end, and we needed that chance soon. Luckily for us, that chance rolled around on June 11.

The last few days had been a dry gulch for air to air combat. So we went for the next thing, air to ground combat. I sent Max on a recon mission to gather intelligence on enemy movements. Meanwhile, I poured over the military code books, looking for some loophole to exploit to keep Sayla in the Luftwaffe. My original idea was defrocked due a rather obscure old rule about re-enlistments. I had a radio with a direct link to Max so I could be ready to deploy at a moments notice. I even went so far as to sleep with my helmet on; Aki was rather confused about this. At 1230 hrs on June 11, I got a message from Max.

"I have several enemy columns. What's the deal? Where is all the air at?"

"Hold that thought Three. I'll get Sienna and we'll roll in hot."

"Well I may be wrong. I'll check back with you in a few."

I ran out of the room to Sienna's quarters and knocked on the door.

"Hey! Get ready, we might have some action soon."

However, I kept hearing strange noises on the other side of the door. I knocked again. Suddenly, Sienna came to the door. She was somewhat disheveled, her hair was a mess, and she was laughing.  
"What is it?"

"I need you to be ready to scramble when I tell you too. I'll inform the control tower. You just be ready to go...Do you have someone else in the room?"

"Uh, no!"

I just stared at her. It was obvious what was going on. Suddenly a man opened the door all the way. A man I remembered...

"What's the problem...Johannes?"

"Mallo? What the heck are you doing here?"

Mallo Hartz. He was an old academy roommate of mine. I had completely lost track of him. Hartz was a small man; he was only 5'3". His hair was a short blonde and he had a rather baby-like face. And here he was having a good time with Sienna. He was the "mystery boyfriend."

"Man I knew you were here, but I thought you were gone on a mission or something."

"You still flying those Growlers?" I asked.

"Yep." he said.

Hartz was a man who was straight and to the point. Lengthy explainations were not in his character. He was a electronic warfare pilot who flew EA-18G Growlers.

"Well, I don't have time to play catch up right now. Sienna get straightend out and get ready to move...Wait. What is it?" I said, Max had come back with his report.

"You're not gonna believe this. We got a whole enemy convoy moving north unopposed. Trucks, tanks, APCs, the whole shabang. I was going to let the Wing Command know..."

"No! Don't tell them anything. Geist might screw it up again. We'll be there in a few minutes."

"We have plenty of bombs and whatnot."

"Have you confirmed they're the enemy?"

"Yes. Checked in with JSTARS. You better hurry up for the other guys get here."

"Good. Sienna let's go!"

But I looked behind me and saw the two of them kissing. I just shook my head.  
"Can we get a move on!" I said forcefully.

"Oh sorry!" she said, tearing away from the romantic scene.

When before we arrived Sienna said something rather beneficial.

"You're trying to keep the Captain in aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

She explained she was behind the wall of the hangar listening to every word we said. She told me something rather interesting. It was ingenious. Not only could she stay in the squadron...she could fly with us.

We began with the back section of the convoy. We pounded it with everything. We had rockets, bombs, and air to ground missiles. We knocked out tank after tank, truck after truck. More strike planes showed up and hit it with a variety of munitions including cluster bombs, incendiary bombs, rockets, bomblets, the whole arsenal. We were at it all day. We were bombing things we'd already hit. Even bridges were no exception.

"I got a bridge 12:00 low. I'm targeting the center, Fauna Three, Fauna Four..you take the left and the right."

"Missile away!"

All three of our missiles hit simultaneously at their respective points causing the bridge to collapse in one fell swoop.

"Bloody good show! You knocked out the entire thing!" Sienna said. "Now it's my turn!"

Sienna led her plane to five hundred feet. There was a paved road underneath her and she pelted the center with four five hundred pound bombs. I followed closely behind; she dropped the bombs so accurately, she hit every white line on her flight path. It was like they came off a truck or something. We left a trail of destruction behind and I was proud of all that we had wrought. I returned that night, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

"You seem happy! What's going on? You're usually dead tired after a...oof!" she said.

I just swept her in to my arms. I have no idea if it was the rush of the destruction or the fact we'd finally done something significant. I just couldn't hold back. Neither of us could. All I remember from that night was Aki saying, "Okay, you really are in a good mood!" It did not matter that we had completely annihilated a retreating enemy in a unscrupulous and brutal matter. That night, we had each other. That was all that mattered to me.  
Tomorrow was going to be important though. Three separate incidents would occur that would change lives forever.

The next morning I was approached by Sienna. It was time to see if Sayla would accept my plan. I told Max about it as well.

"You actually want that burned out woman to stay? Why?"

"She's just like us man. This is all she wanted. Frankly, the reasons she's being kicked out have no relevance. It's stupid. People always try to attach to a solution to a problem and that solution has nothing to do with the problem!" I said.

"It could work the other way you know!" Max replied.

"There's no sense in letting someone who obviously loves this job go. Why? My father once told me that the best people at their jobs are the people that love their jobs. These officers...a lot of them only care about their own egos. Wake up man! How many GOOD officers have we had? Three? Two?" I said.

"She's the worst officer ever!" Max exclaimed.

"Oh really. I bet my life that a lot of people would have lived through until now if she'd been in charge in the beginning instead of Jessonseck. But she doesn't even care about leading anymore, because the other leaders won't take her individualistic style of leading. That's the only bad thing about this. You have to fit this "mold" and if you don't fit the mold you're useless. That...not..right! People working their tails off at this job and everyone around them is tricky, picky, sneaky, and egotistical. Take Geist for example. You have to be a robot to advance here. But if you're a robot in battle you can't handle extremely weird situations on the battlefield. You can't fix what isn't right if you're a robot. We are not robots, neither is she."

"Well I will admit one thing. She is a damn cool person. But there's nothing you can do. I've tried helping people...but it only makes things worse."

"Not quite. Tell him Sienna."

"Well, there is a weird clause in the procedures and standards section of the Belkan Military Code. It says that any officer can resign their commission at any time. However, should that person wish to re-enlist to perform the same job he or she is qualified for, they can come back as an enlisted officer equal in concept rank to the previous officer rank, provided that they are allowed to do that task. However, pilots are an exception. NCOs can fly aircraft too, but are technically still subject to all NCO/Officer differences." she said.

"So she resigns...comes back as a Sergeant...she can still fly." Max considered.

"Then we go and tell Deadbolt that she's joining us. We only have to get the approval of four officers to do so if and only if they are enlisted. We have four; well...five that can sign off on it. That's Article Six, Section 30.5A ." she finished with a wide smile on her face.

"That's brilliant. That is brilliant. Words cannot express the brilliance in this."

"Well, it's time to give a well deserving person a second chance."

Hours later, Sayla gave me the most dumbfounded look I've ever seen.

"You mean...I can stay?" she said confused.

"Provided you resign your commission before your contract expires." I responded.

"That's it?" she replied, filled with doubt.

"Well, we do have some clout with our status. We can get the others to sign off on it, and I can tell the General that you're coming with us. You'd be under my command. That means you don't have to worry about all the red tape you had deal with. You don't have a mold to fit. You'd be able to retire a pilot and not have to deal with the shame of being dishonorably discharged. And besides...someone's gotta fill the ranks when this mess is over." I told her.

Sayla looked at me with a set of sad, understanding eyes.

"You'd do that for me? Pathetic, unruly me? One who was told all my life I'd amount to nothing?"

"Yes. Because I've always believed in giving the right people a second chance."

"Thanks. You have no idea how much this means to me. Now I can get Freya that damn expensive prosthetic leg. I've been scrapping every dime I could find for a year. I think I might be able to get it now...so she can come back too."

"Wha..."

"She had some training in weapons systems. I bet I can get my old Foxhound and she can ride backseat. Sure as hell doesn't ground pounding though. But old times man...old times."

"How about a Tornado? I bet I can get you one of those if you want."

"Well, it's a nice gesture. But I'll stick with what I've got."

"Well, let's get all the paperwork done." I said.

"I can't believe it...I'm back! Oh I'm getting chills..."

I could only laugh. It was strange. There was no other service in the world that had such dedicated people than the Luftwaffe. Years ago, pilots flew for years since there was no method to relieve them from combat. They flew until the war ended or they died. But they came back. Missing arms, missing legs...somehow they did it. It was this intrepid spirit I saw in her that inspired me to keep her here. It was this intrepid spirit that all of us had.

Next Chapter: The Return to Obersalzburg


	8. The Return to Obersalzburg

Chapter 7: The Return to Obersalzburg

_Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be. - Anton Chekhov_

_**Anticlimax**_

I got a visit from a Wing Intelligence staff member on June 29th. His name was a fourth level Warrant Officer named Alton Rudel, or "Rube" as we called him. Rube was a thick guy, with buzzed blonde hair and a set of narrow glasses. He stood about five feet, nine inches. He had a blocky face and his eyes were brown. He looked like he was in thirties, but he was actually only twenty-seven. I was told by the command staff that he was coming to staff our fledgling fighter division. He was completely squared away from the moment he walked through the doors of our briefing room.

"Is this the headquarters for 17th Division?" he asked.

"Yeah. You must be our new Wing liaison. Welcome to the 17th. We might be getting some new members to the actual flight so don't be intimidated."

"With all due respect sir, I heard you were quite a wild one. They said you'd eat me alive." He said.

"They said that? I'd have expected nothing less from your old chums from Wing staff. Well, you are actually going to have a lot of fun with us. We're not the old boring robots like Deadbolt's men. You didn't hear that."

"Yes sir."

"Umm...go check in with the rest of the staff up at control. I've got some business to take care of."

And with that he left; however, just as he left Santiago walked in with a small package.

"This is another one from your folks. What did they send you this time? Candy, cigars...pornography?" Santiago asked humorously.

"You never change. Whoa..."

In the package was a set of golden rings. I was mystified by this, but it did not take long to decipher the purpose of them.

"But I do have some good news though..."

"Hold on," I said while trying to read the letter, "Dear son...We miss you...blah, blah, blah. We know how much you're going on and on about this young woman we've never met. These used to belong to your grandparents...I think you might find a use for them."

"Whoa...are you really going to..." Santiago began to say.

"I've been thinking about it." I said, interrupting him.

"Well you too are so damn infectiously in love." he said while rolling his eyes, "two people from two different countries. How sweet."

"Whatever." I said, brushing it off. "But I am thinking of it. I mean...look at this place. I can't live with myself with leaving here after being here so long and seeing the same terrors she's seen...and just...leaving her here. I can't do it. I can't. It's like leaving a cat out in the snow. I've got to...I don't want to leave her here. I know that I can't help all of these people, but I can help someone. Seeing her is like seeing myself years ago growing up on farms and dust lands." I said.

"Is that so, friend? Well, its worth a shot. I mean, if she has any sense she'd do it. Think about it...how many women would kill to marry me and leave for a prosperous country? It's so obvious. Well, I wish you luck...it's just as well...the war's over." he concluded, showing me a small letter confirming the end of hostilities.

I couldn't believe it. The war was over? Suddenly, the shock wore off and we just started hugging and slapping hands.

"The war is over! No more sand, no more dust...Now we can go to some other battlefield and complain about that." Santiago said.

"Before we do that, I have to complete some unfinished business..."

I ran out of the room. The sudden thought of leaving the person I cared so much for behind so quickly was unthinkable. I heard the cheering and the celebrating elsewhere. But when I got back to my room, Aki was just sitting there staring into space...as expected. I hoped for the best.

"Did you hear? Surely, you've heard. It's over now." she said, rather forlorn.

"I know." I could only respond. She sat down on the small bed and I sat down next to her in a tentative sense. We did not speak for nearly thirty seconds.

"You'll be going home soon I see. And I'll still be here with all that remains...which isn't much left. It's been a wonderful time...but I know it was not to last. But, I think I'll make it. I'll remember what we once had." she said, almost accepting her fate. I hesitated hearing her words, but this was the time. I had to do it. I couldn't bear not seeing her again.

"It doesn't have to be this way. I want to take you to my country." I came out and said. She looked at me with an arched eyebrow.

"No, they'd never..." she said, completely paralyzed by shock.

"Why not? Trust me, you're not the first. Everyone's taking something from this place. It's the tradition of every army for thousands of years...it's just you I want to take back." I said. I then, upon realizing what I said, wanted to slap myself in the head. It was a damn poor choice of words.

"To be your trophy?" she said furrowing her brow. I saw her expected reaction. I had a narrow chance to recover from a stupid remark.

"No...I want you be my wife. That's why. I couldn't bear you living here for the rest of your life when it didn't need to be that way. That's because I love you and I care so much about you. It has nothing to do with trophies. Let the Oseans have their wives as trophies. Trophies mean nothing. It doesn't breathe, nor laugh, nor cry, or talk. You would be an accomplishment. It's the very ideal of all that we both worked for. So would you be my wife? Would you let me give you everything you can want and need forever? Would you let me take you from this land where you've suffered for so long...and let me show you a world beyond anything you've ever seen?" I said. My words were well crafted this time. I knew from her struggling smile that I'd done what I needed to do.

She just laughed and jumped into my arms.

"Thank you. My whole life I've dreamed of somewhere better. Your words have given me hope for the first time in so long." she said.

The deal was sealed and I was taking her back home. I wanted to show her all the things I'd seen. But most of all, when I kissed her I felt true love for the first time. My unselfishness had brought about this emotion. My sorrow for her life had created a longing for her. I knew her emotions her were raw and true.

And that was my war...my first war.

_**Homecoming**_

The war was over. The VLA took command of the north and the entire country was unified once again. Not that it got any better, in retrospective terms of course. At the time, I thought differently. I thought that we'd turned a corner. However, we still had to wrap up all the loose ends. It wasn't until July 17 that we left for good. I received my permanent assignment at an airbase near Swadern, not far from Obersalzburg.

I thought it would be difficult to get Aki back to our country; however, Rube came through for me and got her a pass on a C-47 heading out. I told my parents exactly where to pick her up. When we got back I was surprised how little paperwork I had to do to get her in the country. It was one of the many things I liked about Belka. It was very open to foreigners; not like Osea with its xenophobic tendencies. The first time I took Aki into the city, I saw a wide eyed expression like no other.

"Oh my goodness...I've never seen this before." she said. I could barely contain my laugher.

She was looking at a clean, paved street. She saw the shops and the cobblestone sidewalks. This was like heaven to her. The mountains and the trees and the clean water was the likes of which she'd never seen before. I'd told so much about the land in which we lived and she thought I was crazy...no more. Belka was like a fairy-tale land to her.

We finished all the paperwork required for Sayla to re-enter the Luftwaffe. We probably caused a lot of trouble for the staff. I took some pride in it. It was weird because she was twelve years older than me, yet addressing me as "sir". As for the Luftwaffe, I quickly noticed that things were changing. There were a number of new aircraft coming out. But this was only a prelude.

We were officially combat veterans now and as such entitled to an extended leave unless something out of the ordinary happened. Because of the strange situation the country was in militarily, it only left me a few weeks to arrange a wedding. One of the benefits about being in the military is that the weddings and funerals were free. You never had to worry about someone not showing up for one of the two functions. I had wanted a small wedding, and Aki concurred considering the fact that such normal things were alien to her. Despite the mundane things I showed her for all intents and purposes she was living the good life. So we decided to get married as soon as possible.

I brought her to meet my family for the first time. I was fortunate...the others had little or no family to welcome them, victims of the depression of the 1980s. My father was working in a small repair shop doing what he always knew how to do: fix things. My mother mostly worked odd jobs doing what she could. I admired them for doing everything they could for me, despite extremely difficult and tragic circumstances. I never discussed battle with them, or how much I loved it.

"I remember it just like yesterday you were bouncing around this place. You were in your own world completely oblivious to the reality of things. Some strange part of me misses those old times." my mother said to me.

My mother was a very beautiful woman. When I was a child, my father would sit there with his friends would seemingly speak of nothing other than about how beautiful she was. She was the envy of the most women back then. I never doubted why they hardly fought with each other. They had the same thing Aki and I had. It was raw, honest emotion mixed with passion and unselfishness.

"You kind of look like me when I was your age." My mother said to Aki upon meeting her for the first time.

"Oh no, I can't look that! I was so...back in Versua I was a dirty, ugly girl growing up. I mean, Johannes told me about what life was like back when he was a child. I'll tell you this. I would much rather have been here in that time that I was when he met me."

"Was it really that bad?" my mother asked.

"Well, my.."

"Whoa, don't go into that. They don't need to hear all that. Just take my word for it. It's pretty bad over there." I interjected. I didn't want to tell my parents the truth of what happened overseas.

"I can imagine." my mother said, almost reading my mind.

I wanted to get everything squared away as soon as possible. I had a feeling that we might get deployed again. So we set a wedding date: August 1.

_**Freya Lanne**_

While I was hanging around town one day, I got a sudden visit from someone I had never met before...but looked familiar. I think it was July 29th. I was getting married in two days and was collecting my thoughts as too how I would react, what I would do, what kind of husband I'd be.

I was sitting in a coffee shop with Max at the time.

"Well...it's almost here. Man, it's only been like what, three or four months since you met?" Max said.

"Yeah. It's not too uncommon. I know a couple that was married after only a month and still together. Kids and everything." I said. This was true. It was a couple who lived a mere half a mile from my parents' home.

Suddenly, a short glasses wearing woman walked past me. She had black, curly hair and she was walking on crutches. I couldn't see who she was at first.

"So it's weird being back here. I mean there's no accolades. It's just...good to be back. That feeling is palpable. No more Verusa, no more dust, no more incompetent officers."

"Well, I'm just glad Sayla's in our group now."

The woman fell to her feet. The thud she made got everyone's attention. I jumped up to help the woman...and I quickly realized that I knew her from somewhere. Her eyes were a glassy green and there was a nasty scar along the left side of her face. Her face seemed small. She seemed skittish and jumpy.

"Thank you. Ugh...these crutches are ridiculous. Damn expensive medical treatments." she said. She spoke in a quick, raspy voice.

"Are you alright?" I ask.

"Oh...I thought I heard...are you okay? I'm fine you don't have to look at me like...wait a minute...I know you!"

"What?"

"Your Johannes Dietrich aren't you? The "Mad Lieutenant of Versua". The one she'd talked about."

"Who is 'she'?"

"I heard her name and I thought...who the hell would know her? She's not famous."

"Wait a minute...are you...Freya Lanne by any chance?"

"Who?" Max said.

"How did you...oh I get it. Sayla told me about what you did. I suppose I should be thanking you again." she said while smiling.

I didn't think I'd ever meet her in the flesh, much less in my own hometown.

_**Nostalgia**_

Freya invited us to her house half-way between Sudentor and Obersalzburg. I'd expected to run into Sayla for I had not seen her in awhile. Though I wondered how surprised Max would be if he found out about their..."arrangement".

The community was sparse, but intimate. The area in which she lived was called the Metz plains. This area reminded me of my days in the Gotha region. We pulled up to a medium-sized brick house near a small lake.

"Freya, right? What do you do for fun around here? It seems so...isolated." said Max.

"I like this place. The air's clean, everything's nice and quiet. It's a welcome change from the roar of the jets. Though I guess one cannot stay away from it for too long...it's probably why I'm trying to get back in." she said. "Besides, you two are young. I thought you wouldn't like it out here. I thought you were not much different than the media-obsessed twenty-something."

"Well, we're a little different than that." I said.

"Well...I'd suppose you wouldn't be Dietrich. You grew up in the country too right?"

"Yeah, but I guess it's hard for me to 'unplug' sometimes." I responded. It was a rather awkward conversation; so I simply let it drop.

The inside was somewhat frugal than most homes. Everything was set up in a nice, orderly fashion. However, on the inside it was very cold. I didn't ask about it; I assumed she liked it cool. Then along the wall I saw something curious. There were all sorts of medals and pictures. I picked up a picture and saw a younger Lanne standing next to a black haired man."

"That's Rafe Rudel." she said. I quickly turned to face her. She was in the process of sitting down. However, she quickly got her crutches back up to come over to us.

"Whoa...that emblem...you were in Schwarze?" Max said.

"The old Schwarze." She said while coming over to us. She picked up one of the pictures and just looked at it with sad eyes. It was all of the old Schwarze memebers standing around a group of Mig-31s.

"There was me, Sayla, Rafe, Jaques Dora, Hans Quaren, Ulrich Jeschonnek..."

"Jeschonnek? He was a memeber of the old Schwarze too? That guy used to be our CO...got a lot of us killed." I said.

"Hmm...nothing's changed then. It's his fault I'm hobbling on one leg anyway. I heard he got shot down...good. Bastard ruined my carrer. How do you mistake someone you've flown with for months to be the enemy? I know he had to half a brain to fly that plane. Where did it go?" she said while shaking her head.

I wasn't suprised by this additional revalation. Jeschonnek's behavior was nothing new.

"...Joseph Galen, and Alton Steinmann. That was us. Those were some good times. Rafe figured out how to put a decent bombing system on the plane. Sayla figured out how to actually attach the bombs. She and Joseph built racks for two thousand pound bombs. We even managed to get a system for dropping TV guided bombs. If there was some way to improve the airplane...we found it."

"You guys must have saw a lot of action back years ago?" said Max.

"We fought in Anea and Ciria in 1987. Sayla came straight from Belka to lead us. At first we didn't trust her at all. But in the plane she's no nonsense. She earned our respect quickly. We had been selected by command to come to this unit as well. That was when we were nobodies; not the villians they are now. I wish I could fly with them again." she said, her eyes lighting up.

"But for obvious reasons..." said Max.

"Yes. The problem is that I need a specific kind of prosthetic limb that will allow me to regain most of my original mobility. I tried it on a wooden leg but they wouldn't have it. Then again, it costs nearly 75,000 franks."

"Whoa...that is expensive." said Max.

"Yeah. When your mobile you're useful; when you're not, despite all the service you did for them...they turn their back on you."

"They couldn't have-"

"Look, Johannes. Don't believe in that 'knights of the sky' bullshit. It's a lie. We're all killers up there. We just don't have time to evaluate who the enemy is or what he's like. It'll come in handy for the next world war."

"What! You're kidding me. Their's never gonna be another war of that scale again."

Freya gave me a angry stare.

"Don't be so naive to think that. What the hell do you think that you've been doing for the past few months? Preparing for war. We love to start little wars. We've been doing it for years. Hell, we started the 1987 war. But it's not my place to question really. I really don't care. Someone once said, _For those's true home is in the sky will always return to it._"

Perhaps she was right. Maybe some big war was coming up. She would be in a position to argue that.

"Why did you leave Schwarze?" I asked, wanting to know the truth.

"I didn't leave. None of us did. We were thrown out and replaced with faitful party members, including Dora and Jeschonnek. It was then I lost faith in the command stucture of the air force. They ran the new Schwarze along with Zubov, which served as a recon unit; albeit, one that was allowed to shoot down their own allies. You could be damaged and try to leave...only to be shot down if your not careful. If you _ever_ encounter them...watch your back. Trust me." she said.

At the time, I didn't expect to go to the Round Table so there was no reason to worry. I would quickly find out that she was right.

Freya went on to tell me about how she managed to scrape all the coin together for her new operation. She'd been selling stolen rations and supplies from several ammo dumps from military bases she had access too; one of the perks of being a veteran. All she needed was 8,000; of course this did not count the money that Sayla had. So adding that to what was left, only a manageable 4,000 was left. We talked on for seveal hours and we even convinced her to play a rousing number on the piano. Afterwards, we left and I invited her to the wedding. Max was going try to take up a collection to help with the cost. She later told me that if she were to return she'd be a 2nd Lieutenant as she was a warrant officer through most of her flying carrer and only made that officer rank when she was forced out. But I didn't want her to shore up with some other unit.

"Hey, listen...if you want to fly with us you'll always have a place in Fauna." I said.

"Aren't you forgetting something? I was coming regardless. You're one of the few pilots that have impressed me, and I do not easily impress." she said.

"Man, we're going to be a ragtag unit again. We're taking in all these older aces." said Max.

"You know, Rafe's still flying despite the fact that he has one eye."

"Are you serious?" Max asked.

"Alton's deaf in one ear. I'm not making this up. We're..."hardcore" as the Oseans would say." she responded.

Max couldn't believe what he was hearing. Here these pilots were with severe disabilities and they wanted to come back more than anything. I, however, had something different on my mind.

"Well, I've got to go home and get mentally prepared for the big day."

"All you're doing is saying 'I do'! That's it!" Max yelled at me.

"I guess you're right."

Belkan weddings are far from the money-sucking galas that other countries' weddings tend to be. There are no bridesmaids, no flower-tossing, and no long, drawn out celebrations. Rural weddings are almost always held outside. In keeping with military tradition, the bride had to wear an icon of the groom. The icon was the emblem of whatever service, ship, squadron or division he served in or on. This was sewed in. I had to put on my full military uniform, badges, ribbons, medal, the entire thing. We called it the "torture suit". We rarely wore it.

The Luftwaffe had it's own traditions. After the vows, all the pilots in the room(active or not) would give their own individual toast to the newlywed couple. I felt bad because it was more about me than Aki. She had no family, no friends to bring to wedding. They were all dead or missing. I had my company of friends as well as the our Fighter Division. To make up for this, my parents went off the deep end and bought Aki one of the more expensive dresses they could find. As for me, I was just the guy that was there to say the words. Everything went off without a hitch. Aki was radiant. She was taken away by the relatively spartan decorations that she almost tripped. This led Max to say to me,

"Is she drunk or something?"

Afterwards, after meeting everyone, she told me she felt like she was drunk from the sheer sensory overload of all she'd seen. Regardless of the humor, everything went fine. We spent the night in a random hotel two towns over doing what most would expect a young newlywed couple to be doing after a wedding. Of course, this and all the weeks that followed were nothing short of bliss. It was something out of a dream; a dream that I didn't want to end. But nothing lasts forever. And on October 1, I was called back into action. Everyone was. Trouble was brewing to the south of us. So with a longing to return to action and a child on the way I gathered the new and old members of my flight to prepare to go to war once again. We were going to someplace called B7R...

Next Chapter: The Round Table


	9. The Round Table

Chapter 8: The Round Table

Over the weeks, things had changed dramatically. We were back in our homeland, re-adjusting ourselves to peacetime work; however, in my case it was adjusting to married life. We worked for several weeks to integrate our new unit that was based at a small field at Scwadern. Scwadern was a subsidiary base of Kledner Base, from which the entire third wing operated. Freya had her new leg attached and managed to join our unit, with heavy recommendations from myself, Sayla, and Max. Freya informed me that Rafe, who was returning home from Osea, wanted to join up with us as soon as possible. However, events would intervene that would delay that for a while. Events that would carry us all into eventual war; it seemed that Freya's prediction was dead right. Government officials came on television to announce to the country that we had been had. In the past, we had sold Osea land in an attempt to straighten out the economy. However, things only worsened. Now, they were claiming the Federal Law Review of 1988 was unconstitutional. Then there was the discovery of natural resources in a rather volatile region. It was directly south of Sudentor and on the border with Ustio. It was declared that this region had to be held at all costs.

Control of the air there was critical. Thus, elite flights of aces were deployed there. The more famous names were of wars long past. Support squadrons were sent as well. Aggression between our country and Ustio was, at first, minimal. It was only to be a show of force. Other countries tried to help Ustio by sending in its own fighters. One paper, both sides were of equal strength. Us in Fauna were detached from the Wing to help defend this region. For the next three months, we would sit lock, stock and barrel (in a figurative sense) on this border. This place was known as B7R. The strange shape of the land made it look like a giant circle. Thus it would be called the Round Table. The battles began in late April and at first, were on a very small scale. By the time we arrived on October 1st, it was shaping up to be a vicious war of attrition.

**_"Welcome to the Round Table..."_**

I said my goodbyes to my new wife for the first time and my parents for a second time and went to war yet again. We knew this was going to be a much different battle. This was a contest for home; this was no distant war. We had been forged in the fires of Verusa and were now on course for more glory. In addition to our 17th Air Division, we were positioned next to several high ranking divisions. They were th e following: the 22nd Air Division (Schnee), 7th Air Division (Indigo), 2nd Air Division (Rot), 13th Night Fighter Air Division (Schwarze), 10th Air Division (Grun), 5th Air Division (Gelb), 19th Fighter Division(Blau/Blue), 35th Air Division(Geist/Ghost), 21st Fighter Division(Grau/ Gray), and the 41st Night Fighter Air Division(Schirm/Blind). We were most definitely on the low end of the pecking order. However, we were honored to be here; even though the conditions were not that much unlike Versua. I wrote in my diary the next day:

_October 3, 1995- What a long flight...and here I was getting settled in for a boring month. We've been have been moved from Obersalzburg to a place called Chosel Island. Chosel Island is an old air base from decades ago; however, for a 60 year old facility, this looks rather nice...assuming of course one has cleared the cobwebs away and dusted the place. There is no strategic advantage for having this place...gee, I wonder why they closed it down? It's not so bad though, I figure the more flight time we get here the better._

After setting up our quarters and all the other areas, we sat down that night exhausted from all the work. We sat in our improvised briefing room disscusing the area around B7R.

"Can you believe they stuck us here?" said Santiago said suddenly at a break in the mood.

"You think this is rough? This paradise compared to our time in Anea. Remeber that? The cold was ludicrous." said Freya.

"It wasn't so bad when the weather was good. I just didn't like the time we were sent over there. We drew that time instead of those lucky guys in the spring." responded Sayla.

"Hell of a welcome to the Round Table." said Sienna. "They always put us in the dregs of the line. It never fails."

"Round Table? That's what their calling this place now?" Santiago replied.

"That's what it looks like from the air. Or that's what Mallo says at least. He took me on a flight of the region several weeks ago. I didn't see everything though. I almost died when we came under attack. Well...I didn't die. I didn't even get hurt. He was losing his mind when he was being locked up by missiles. Then it turned out it was firendly units just fooling around. Assholes." she said.

"Where is he by the way?" Max asked.

"He's shored up with several planes from the 45th Support Squadron."

"Oh, I bet he misses being shacked up with you. He's probably even further in the ass-end of this place." Santiago said.

"Well, at least I didn't shack up up with every whore from Waldrich to Aachen." Sienna retorted harshly.

"I did not!" Santiago said in protest.

"Oh really, I saw you leaving one of those places in Bremen two weeks ago..." Sienna began.

"All right, that's enough you two." I interrupted. "Where here, let's make the best of it. Is there anything else?"

There was nothing but a long silence. Everyone just wanted to go to bed.

"Well, we got everything in order. Let's call it a night." I said.

We all mumbled in agreement and went our separate ways. We had not received any direct orders on what to do just yet. So as I went to sleep for the night I could only think of my family and the child that was growing inside of Aki every second. My dream was put to rest though upon the sounds of air raid sirens. I awoke sharply.

"Scramble! Scramble!" came over the PA system.

I quickly grabbed all of my flight gear and ran out. I nearly ran into Max on my way out. Santiago had a rather confusing, if not humorous, scramble that ended up with him hitting a wall.

As we scrambled for takeoff, I wondered what would await me up there in the skies above the B7R. Regardless, we managed to get to our planes. There was just one problem. I had taken off with Freya was right behind me. however, for whatever reason, a allied jammer plane had squeezed in between our contingent and Santiago and Max, who were right behind the plane. It crashed and Santiago had to abort the takeoff; his plane crashed into the wreckage and he barely managed to get out himself. Max was far enough behind him to get the engine shut down and stop the plane in time.

"Well...it's just us isn't it? Quite an impressive showing isn't it?" Freya said in a sarcastic tone.

I took notice of her kill markings; I had seven, she had fourteen. It was strange being up in the air with her; after all she was taking orders from someone who was twelve years her junior. Not to mention the fact that she hadn't been in combat for three years.

We got a briefing from Major Tassem; he was the base commander but he had no authority over us once we left the base. I was in command of this outfit. He had told us that there was something going on at B7R but he didn't say what.

It was nearly sunrise by the time we got there. We were somewhat fortunate that the scramble alarm had come at five in the morning. At least we didn't need night vision.

"Do you have anything on your radar?" I asked.

"No."

"Weird."

Suddenly, I bounced some targets; several of them.

"Do we engage?"

That was the question. There were no clear rules of engagement except the bottom line: _shoot only if shot at_. I suddenly realized that we were the only people that could start or put to a violent war in the span of an hour. The others were still stuck on the runway unable to take off due to lack of space. Suddenly...

"Incoming!"

We both dove for the deck; the contrails of five missiles could be seen over our heads. I quickly armed my radar missiles. We increased our speed to meet the enemy head on.

"Get ready to reply." I said.

"So now Ustio's shooting at us. How quaint." Freya said.

I managed a lock at a range of 14,000 ft(roughly 3 miles).

"Fauna One, Fox One!"

"Fauna Six, Fox One!"

I turned my plane upwards, but I still managed to keep a lock on my opponent. Freya however, turned her plane to the side and slowed somewhat. I was somewhat surprised by her tactics. I saw a small flash in the distance and and a pinging sound indicating a hit.

"Excellent shooting." She said to me.

We both broke left and right in defensive maneuvers to keep distance from the enemy. I deployed flares that caused several other missiles to miss. I deduced that these missiles were longer range missiles.

"They're active radar missiles. They're not as reliable as they say they are." said Freya.

We turned back into the enemy...only to discover that there were more enemies that we thought. We were in the midst of some ten other fighters!

"Let's take the ones on the outside first."

"Missile! Break! Break!"

I turned my airplane only to run into another missile being fired...and another...and another!

"Where the hell are they getting all these fighters from?"

Before we turned back in thought, we bounced additional fighters on radar. However, these were coming in from behind us. Suddenly, two missiles vaporized two planes right in front of us. Two more flashed right past us and we turned into the approaching group. They were allied planes! But these planes were unusual. They were a flight of four F-14Ds with blackish, coal paint and white markings all along the side. Freya suddenly flew ahead of me as if she was anxious to meet them..

"Phoenix? Is that you? I can't believe they let you stay in Erich. As much trouble as you caused in the old days." she said.

"Well, if isn't the one-legged Amazon. I can't believe they let the old woman back in." the man said.

"You're only three years younger than me!"

"You know each other?" I asked.

"Fauna Six to Schnee One, I would like to introduce you my new squadron leader."

"Schnee?" I asked.

"Hmph. So your him aren't you? Well...welcome to the Round Table." he said.

And with that, Schnee flew away. I don't know what it was about Schnee at first; his sudden appearance made me feel like a bug that can crushed on. However, he couldn't be worst than Geist. It was a brief meeting, but it was my first encounter with the Knights of the Round Table. It would not be the last.

**_Grun's Challenge_**

When we returned to the base, most of the wreckage had been cleaned up. I asked Freya about her artificial leg. I wondered if the g-forces had any effect on it.

"No. Getting the leg cut off in the first place wasn't painful. It was all that cold." she said.

Despite the action that morning, we knew we only had a taste of what was to come at the Round Table. Then again, what we didn't know was this was only a droplet compared to what was going to happen in a few months. After surviving yet another combat action, I decided to give Aki a call. We had a long, enjoyable talk and then it was back to business.

That afternoon we had our first serious briefing. It was attended by all of us, including Rube who gave us the breakdown of what was going on.

"Now this area as we know is called B7R. The Luftwaffe command wants us to maintain air superiority over this region. It's not going to be easy. There are number of foreign pilots here as well. We expect this to be an on and off sort of thing. But we have to get air superiority if we are to take this place. There's just one problem. There's so many ace divisions here that sending all of us at once would be a waste of manpower. That's why command's got this graduated response system. But, since we're the new ones here, they'll probably be sending us more than the others."

"Okay. Well, we'll go up in twos if needed. So it's as per usual. Sienna with me, Santiago with Max, Freya with Sayla. But if all of us are needed then...we do the obvious."

"So do we just patrol the region or engage at will?" Max asked.

"Well, command's not too clear on it." Rube answered.

"What a surprise." Max replied.

"Well that mess of a scramble isn't gonna happen anymore. From now on everyone sleep with your helmets on."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"There was one time I didn't take my helmet off for three days. You talk about a bad case of helmet hair!" said Sayla.

We all laughed.

"All right. We'll split into flights of two and patrol the combat zone every day. Just don't cramp anyone's style."

Over the next few days, we patrolled the Round Table in the day and at night. However, it wasn't until October 10th that we saw some action...and it wasn't what we were expecting.

The morning of the 10th we prepared to go on our patrols when all the sudden, Rube walks up to me and hands me something in front of the others. It was a small package about the size of my mind.

"This came for you Lieutenant." he said.

"Who's it from?" asked Max.

"I don't know. There was this guy that drove up delivering mail and he gave me this package with orders to be taken straight to you."

"Really? Thanks." I said. 

He walked off and I opened the package and was shocked at what I saw. It was only a small piece of paper. On it was an emblem, a place, a word and an number. The emblem was one of a green owl, and the words 'B7R', '20,000' and the word "Schabernack".

"Schabernack! You're kidding me! I haven't done one of those in years." said Sayla.

"Grun's calling us out! Oh man! I haven't done a Schabernack since training!" Santiago said excited.

_Everyone_ in the Luftwaffe knew what a "schabernack" was. No matter how one fights, or how one lives, everyone loved a schabernack. It was a basically a mock dogfight to sharpen our skills against the best. It is more about pride than bragging rights. The question was...why Grun? Why would they call our little group?

The rules of a schabernack were simple. The challenger would send a piece paper with their squadron emblem, the place they were to meet, the word "schabernack", and the altitude they were to meet. The challenged could only us the amount of planes that were in the squadron of the challengers. There was a setting on all modern Belkan fighters that would a laser instead of real missiles. The question was...why Grun? Why would they call our little group? We were about to find out.

I had hoped that nothing would go wrong at the Round Table. I knew little about Grun squadron. I only knew that they were the 10th Air Division. I decided to go with Sayla, Santiago, and Max for it. We emerged along the edge of B7R at exactly 1200 hrs. The noon time was a given. Such friendly contests were traditionally done at noon. I was confident, but some part of me knew that we were going to have a humbling experience.

"Okay we're here. Where are they?" Max asked.

"I have no idea."

"You know, we don't even know what planes they fly." said Santiago.

"I wouldn't think they'd challenge us in superior aircraft. It's just not done that way."

"Now if Geist had done that..."

"Heads up! 9:00!" said Sienna, off to the side of us.

Suddenly, from the west several could be seen. However, it seemed that they knew we were here before we knew they were there.

"There they are. Right on time." I heard over the radio.

"How the hell they can see that far away? The sun is right over us." said Sienna.

"Okay, we'll you gents have some fun we'll keep making our rounds here."

And with that they flew away. Grun approached us four abreast, though I didn't know at the time that their division only consisted of four planes.

"Hmm...so you're the new batch to join us here. Well, I might actually enjoy this. Let's have some fun then, eh?" the leader of Grun said.

"Sure thing. Let's get this started."

"We'd better do this fast. I don't want you-know-who to show up." Grun leader said.

I concurred. The last thing we needed was a run in with Schwarze. Sayla knew they were deployed here. Everyone was on edge. So the fight jumped off at first, and before some serious maneuvering could be done...I had a missile lock on me.

"What the hell!"

I quickly broke left. One of the planes from Grun circled in front of me.

"What the bloody hell was that?"

"Oh no...It's them. They've come to mess with our heads." said Sayla.

"Who?" asked Santiago.

"Ha...scared you didn't I?" a haunting voice came on the radio.

In the distance I saw the silhouettes. Black wings, red tips...it was no mistaking it. The only difference was the people in the cockpits. It was Schwarze.

"How convenient for them to show up to ruin the break in monotony this is."

"Pardon the interruption, but I have to break up this little fun. It seems Ustio's sending a large raiding party into the Round Table. If I were you...I'd stop the fake fighting and get to the real one."

"While you conveniently hang back and watch; you never changed." said Sayla.

"Well, if isn't the has-been Hartmann." said Schwarze leader.

"In the flesh." she replied.

"I thought you were dead. No matter. Though I wonder how you got put here. If you were as skilled now as you were then...you'd still have my job." the unit leader said.

"Hey," I said in act of common bravado, "don't call her a has-been. From what she told me you were just riding the coat tails of everyone else."

I heard laughter. "Dietrich isn't it? They were right about you. You've a pair on you."

The planes of Schwarze circled around us. I was watching them maneuver in pairs, slashing through our formation. Suddenly, I received a "blip" on the radio. This was an indication of someone else on our division's personal radio channel trying to contact another member.

"Fauna One."

"What were you thinking saying that to him?" I heard Sienna say to me.

"Hey this guy doesn't scare me. I mean, he's not just gonna cap us for _that_."

"Just be more careful. I've heard this Zubov is rather..."

"That's enough." I said, hoping that Schwarze wasn't hacking into our radio channels.

I had heard many things about the newer members of the squadron. There were rumors he used to be a mercenary from Yuktobania. As we went back into formation, I finally decided to ask exactly where the enemy was. All Zubov said was, "Just follow the contrails."

"What contrails..." I began.

Suddenly on the horizon I saw what look like white streams; they were all heading in one direction.

"Well," Grun leader started, "let's not be late."

With that, they rocketed off towards the upcoming battle. I suddenly found myself smiling. It was going to be our first big battle at the Round Table.

"All right, Fauna group. Let's get going."

The others closed up and we ourselves moved toward the battleground. Schwarze fell in behind. Suddenly, Freya's ominous words struck my mind yet again. _If you ever encounter them...watch your back. Trust me._ As we proceeded to the combat zone, I just hoped that he didn't get any wild ideas.

**_The Knights of the Round Table_**

When we arrived, there was already a large scale battle going on. It was to be the first of many...even before the Belkan War began. We could tell who our fighters were automatically. There were many brightly colored and strange looking fighters. However, there were many other fighters here. Suddenly, a pair of golden fighters screamed past us. They broke as one, came back together then turned exactly at the same time. I did not know who they were at the time. Suddenly, a quartet of red-colored planes passed by us; they looked like the fighters I saw a child...the same fighters that got me into flying in the first place. This was our true test of battle.

"We've got enemies everywhere! This sky is packed with fighters!" said Max.

It was the largest dogfight we would see for six months.

"Well...the red carpet has fangs." Freya said pulling her fighter up to mine.

"Well, it's time to bear our own fangs!" I replied.

We broke off in pairs and made our way into the chaos. I saw another one of the red planes being fired at without result by two enemy jets. I thought they were F-5s. I heard a bullet strike my airplane; as it did we turned into the enemy and we fired our heat seeking missiles at the enemy. My missile clipped the left wing of the enemy fighter, causing it to spiral to the ground. Sienna's disintegrated her target.

"Oh I just bagged one!" I heard Max say at the same time.

However, there was no time to celebrate. We dove as several missiles came straight for us only to to see a stream of missiles below us. One enemy fighter was hit. An allied plane was also hit by a missile. Two enemy fighters had followed the one plane that had been shot down and Sienna and I gave chase. We slid into the enemy planes, two F-1s. I fired and Sienna fired and both planes went down. One plane was hit by a missile but did not immediately go down. Suddenly a pair of white planes slashed by us. We were forced to dive. Suddenly two more enemies turned into us and two more of the white planes dove down and blew them from the sky. We turned back in to finish off the other fighter. However, the white plane beat us to it...but he broke away. Four wasted no time and finished him off. I wondered why that white plane didn't finish off the enemy.

"Oh well." Sienna said.

The radio chatter was insane. Had we not had our own radio channel, we would have been driven crazy.

"Blau One, break! Break!"

"Break! Break! There's another one!"

"Seven o' clock! Two Take him!"

"I'm hit! Stabilizing!"

"Missile Jammed! I can't get this thing to work!"

"Fox One!"

The chaos continued. We dove again, this time down to 6,000 feet. We saw two planes from Schwarze diving for two low-flying enemies. Suddenly, two planes from Grun slashed by Max's contingent who was flying along side us. They flew upwards into a group of enemies. Aggressive use fo countermeasures prevented the enemy missiles from hitting them. Suddenly, we drove into the enemy again only to find two enemies on our tail.

"Seven o' clock!" Sienna yelled out.

Two missiles were fired and the enemies broke off. We were forced to break our formation as we both had missiles on us. I climbed to 11000 feet and released chaff. But this was no ordinary missile. It followed me wherever I went. There was no where to go and I was running out of options. However, this missile couldn't fly forever. However, luck presented me with an rare opportunity. I drove into the fight, but a red plane came down in front of me and just as I did I crossed behind him, missile and all. Suddenly, an explosion ripped the air behind me. I turned only to see an enemy plane's smoking remains falling towards the earth. I knew it was an enemy's plane since we didn't use A-7 Corsairs. I couldn't believe it...I'd led an enemy fighter into a missile fired from another enemy's plane. It was an ironic way to get shot down.

My immediate concerns changed. I did not know if Sienna was alive or dead.

"Did anyone see two?" I yelled out thinking she had been hit.

"This is Two. I'm fine but I need to nurse this baby back home." she said.

"Alright. Four, you cover Two until she leaves the battle zone. Everyone else follow me. We're going in back in." I said.

The battle had lasted only ten minutes at most and there was till much to do. It was hard to tell who was winning and who was losing from the aerial pandemonium. One fighter crashed into another right in front of us. The two golden fighters sliced between our formation and in a sudden and strange act of technological genius, they actually fired missiles at enemies behind them...and score direct hits.

"Did you see that!" Sayla said.

"That was..." Max said in amazement.

Almost immediately later I saw a sleek silver plane out of the corner of my eye. It was an F/A-22. Geist had joined the action as well. However, at this point the enemy was beginning to withdraw.

"Fauna Three...let's get some payback for Versua." I said.

"Sounds good to me!"

We were going to steal a kill from Geist as they chased the stragglers. The Raptors were moving at a moderate pace and slashing through the enemy fighters. We flew above them, radar missiles at the ready. Suddenly, they turned into two enemy fighters...so did we. The Geist planes prepared to fire but we fired first. We beat them to the punch. We quickly changed our radios over to their channel. We had all the radio channels of all the ace squadrons...thanks to Rube.

"What the...what happened!"

"Some bastard took our kill that's what!" the other man said.

I heard the second voice and it sounded very familiar. That high-pitched voiced, whiny voice...it was our old Major "Bull in the glass shop approach to command" Jessonseck.

"Who was responsible for that shot?"

I just laughed and keyed the mic. By this time the last of the enemy had left the battlefield.

"Remember me?" I said.

"That voice...Dietrich! How did a lowly, good-for-nothing like you end up at the Round Table!" he said.

"They made you a member of Geist. Damn, they must have been desperate."

There was one interesting thing about the ace squadrons For all intents and purposes, aces in the ace division treated each other as equals. It was much unlike the tighter command of other air forces.

"This is Geist One. You're going to regret interfering in our battle!"

"Sorry Geist One. This is the Round Table. Idle threats go unheard here." said Sayla cutting in.

"That voice...Hartmann! Well, I'll be damned."

"You know her?" one of the other pilots asked.

"Oh yeah. Most famous screw up of them all. And I thought Hillenberand was a screw up." said the leader.

"Watch your tongue Jacques," said Freya, "don't forget who got you into the squadron in the first place!"

"Just what have you done that's so important?"

"Obviously, something significant. I wouldn't count on you begging to come back to the air force with one leg." said one voice suddenly over the radio.

"That voice...it's the Swallow." said one of the Geist planes.

Suddenly, it was them. The red planes...it was Rot Squadron. They appeared four abreast. Their planes were colored in the wild red, white and blue that I had seen all those years ago. They were flying right above us in a straight line then broke as one and reversed, flying towards us again.

"Rot One to Geist One, lay of the new kids. One of them probably saved my wingman. This guy's got some skills. Something taken for granted in planes that can't even be seen on radar." he said.

There was a silence over the radio. For all Geist's bravado, even he felt like a bug in the presence of the oldest fighter divisions in Belkan history.

"How the...fine. This isn't over though." their leader said. With that, he flew away.

"Nice shooting kid...but you've got a long way to go." he said. Suddenly as he had appeared, he flew away.

"Whoa..." said Santiago returning to our formation. "Was that really him?"

"Yeah. Well, let's go home." I said.

The battle had ended and the end result was three to one in our favor. We had lost fourteen planes compared to forty one for the enemy. I'd claimed three, Sienna had claimed two, Max had claimed three, Santiago had claimed two, Freya had two and Sayla downed three. We'd managed fifteen kills in a day. It was the single greatest day's victory we'd ever had. In the eyes of the other squadrons we were always the smallest dog in the group, but at least that day we pulled a one-up on one of the best in the business.

**_Rafe Rudel_**

It was November 5th. The fighting at the Round Table had cooled off. There were several large battles, but no where near the scale of the previous battles. In our sector of the round table alone, about a hundred and fifty planes tangled that fateful day in October. Total plane losses were in our favor with a steady 3 to 1 ratio. The problem was that this didn't account for collisions. There were a lot of collisions. Given the amount of fighting at the Round Table, the fact that more did not happed was astonishing. The confusion was even more trouble. We needed to come up with a new strategy. However, our numbers were decreased by three after a series of incidents.

Sienna's plane had been hit by a missile in the big fracas on October 12. She had been struck by about a hundred bullets in one battle which were not lucky enough to get any kills. One engagement saw damage cause internal electrical shock which forced her to the medical center for several days. Overwork put Freya out for a few days. And finally Santiago came down with a yet another violent bout with the flu.

After my daily conversation with Aki, Rube walked up to me and told me a man was here to see me. He said he'd come on behalf of the third wing. We were expecting a newer pilot to come. So I left and went to the briefing room where lo and behold...it was the same man that Freya had shown me in her picture. However, the man had one eye. It was Rafe Rudel. He was a tall man with black hair, his left eye was covered with an eye patch.

"So you're Rudel, right?" I asked.

"Of course. It seems I've been expected." He said.

"Freya and Sayla right?"

"We go back a long way. I'm glad to see they're in this group." he said.

"Well I've looked over the file...and it looks like you saw quite a bit of action; though you're mostly a striker."

"I knew you'd say that. I've dog fought before on many occasions. But my primary mission is striking targets. I was also given training in the Fulcrum, the..."

"Hold that thought. That's just we needed. I'll have command send us a seventh fighter...if that's what you want." I asked.

"Of course." He said.

Now, let me ask you something. If we go in the Round...wait...you _have_ been to the Round Table, right?" I asked.

"No, though I have been into combat as you know. Is there something special about this...Round Table?" he asked.

"What I know about it I cannot say; you have to see it and survive it for yourself..." I said with a smile on my face.

After being forged in the fires of the Round Table, I thoroughly believed that everyone, fighter or strike pilot, must endure the trials of the Round Table at some point in time. Rafe meshed well in our group. He too was a bit handicapped; but yet he came back anyway. He flew very well for someone who only had a single eye; however, he refused to tell anyone how he lost it. He never talked a whole lot; he rather let his flying speak volumes. It wouldn't be long before we meshed as a complete, harmonious fighting unit.

**_The Grand Finale...almost_**

It was December 4. I was born that same day in 1973. I was now a mere twenty-two. Our time at the Round Table was 70 percent boredom and thirty percent sheer chaos and terror. We only had four more kills over November. But that was about to change. Every day we flew patrols in small groups over B7R. We'd mix up the groups and on this day I flew with Sayla on my wing.

"Well, there's nothing here. I guess there's gonna be a smooth birthday party tonight after all. So what did your wife send you? A watch, pictures...erotic letters?" she asked while laughing.

"Shut up, Sayla." I said.

"I'm just kidding. So...have you come up with a name for that kid of yours yet. And don't tell me no again, it's been four and half months. It took me three days to name my kid."

"All right, all right! We're gonna name her after our mothers. Evey Rei." I said.

"Evey? Isn't that an Osean name?" she asked.

"Fauna Two to Fauna One." interjected Sienna, "We've just picked up some bogeys heading your way but its strange. They're moving in small, tight groups like us. Watch yourselves."

"Fauna Three here...I got something interesting. Listen to channel thirteen."

I turned to the channel and I picked up a garbled radio transmission from someone referring to himself as Scorpion 25.

"Scorpion 25? That's not a Ustio callsign." I said.

"No...wait...that's an Osean one!"

"How do you know-"

Suddenly, a pair of planes could be seen moving at top speed perpendicular to us. We turned to face them, but they got to us first...and fired.

"Break!"

The pair turned upwards and so did we. They were two silver F-16s. As we turned to engage, they were suddenly gone; however, they suddenly reappeared on our tails. We both broke in opposite directions and both followed us.  
These, Osean or not, were not your average pilots. I climbed to 13,000 feet and made a sharp turn but the bandit stayed with me.

"He's all over me! These guys aren't the usual fare." Sayla yelled out.

We continued to mirror each other's movements. I scanned the sky looking for Sayla or any of the others. The fighter had sped up and I pulled back on the brakes to let him pass me. But he was smart; he immediately broke right. He tricked me into thinking he was going to break left. So I turned right after him and sped up. I acquired a quick lock-on and fired. However, the missile exploded and forced the airplane down to the earth. Suddenly, I turned away and saw Sayla diving for the deck. Behind her there was a strange looking plane. It was bluish F-14 and he was diving on Sayla as well. I turned and locked on with my radar missiles. I fired three of them while staying locked on in my steep dive and roll. As I predicted, one missile missed but the other hit the F-16 and shattered it into a million fiery pieces. The F-14 broke right into my gun sights but sped away.

"Dietrich, you saved my ass. I might even have your next kid after that one."

"Umm...no thanks." I said.

I scanned the radio net again to hear similar results with the other planes. They'd shot down two enemy fighters. Suddenly, there was a radio message.

"This is Speed Demon to all Scorpion planes. Fall back! Fall back!"

"They're running away! How pathetic. Is this all the mighty Osea can bring to bear against us?" I heard Santiago say.

"Well, it's been one hell of a birthday already hasn't it buddy?"

"I guess so."

We returned to base soon after that relishing our stunning victory. But before we landed…

"Well," began Freya, "Since we're all in the celebratory mood. Allow me to recite a little poem for our fearless leader...The sky was white and blue and so was the enemy too. We took them to school on the same day our leader turned twenty-two. I'm sure your beautiful beau misses you too while inside of her grows a tiny, little you. I'm sure you miss her but they're just too much for us to do. So sit back and relax friend, because on your birthday, you're surrounded by all the people that surely belong in a zoo."

"That was brilliant. Sappy and corny, but brilliant." I said.

We continued celebrating into the night. We were later taken off the line on the 14th. We returned to Obersalzburg and two weeks later we recieved a new posting. The entire wing was moving to some city called Koingsburg. So Aki and I prepared to move yet again into the unknown. But during that time, I thought little of that...Speed Demon. If only I knew that name come back to haunt us...

Next Chapter: Calm Before the Storm


	10. Calm Before the Storm

Chapter 9: Calm Before the Storm

The month of December passed smoothly. There had been no other battles to reach the crescendo at the Round Table that it did on October 12th. But half of B7R still lay in the hands of Ustio. However, this did not matter so much. Ground forces moved in to begin building mining facilities and such. However, The Round Table was not our concern anymore. We were now looking west towards Osea. We were now in a place at Koingsburg, about 275 miles east of the Hierlark and 500 miles west of Obersalzburg. There was little difference between these cities. All of them were ancient cities that had been around since the 11th Century. My squadron operated out of a separate air base with an overall adjutant commander from the fifteenth squadron, Colonel Galland. Galland was not too strict, but he wasn't about to let us have as much freedom as we had in the past...at least at the time. This was a very calm and strange period we were in. It was mid-January 1995. Beyond any of our thoughts at the time, it was in this cold winter that plans for the inferno of war were taking shape.

_**Plans for War**_

Five days a week I would leave my wife and unborn daughter living in town to sit alert for 8 hours a day at Graff Base. We flew along the border, having been given strict instructions not to cross the "magic line". This would be no B7R. It was during this time we hashed out tactics for future engagements based upon past experiences. For an hour every day, we would run through a practice engagement and add our observations to the "Black Book", a series of articles written by everyone in Fauna about...everything; types of enemy airplanes, our own, best approaches for ground strafing, best way to avoid SAMs, etc. This was not for our use only. We would offer the Black Book to command staff of other squadrons, most of whom had not seen combat but were experienced fliers. For a rather inexpensive fee, any unit outside the squadron could use the Black Book for a day. Unscrupulous? Somewhat but it was hard splitting the money between the group so we just used it at the tavern.

It was also worth noting that by this time Sienna and my old friend Hartz had long been split up. This was partly due to him being caught in the act of what Santiago was so infamous for, at least in our squadron. So I said to her, "You're the smartest person in this squadron. They say great minds think alike...maybe you should find another great mind." I didn't think she'd take me seriously. By the 18th, she'd found herself a new man. This man's name was Manel Messerschmitt. I knew him from my youth. He was an old playground buddy of mine. I had no idea he was in the Luftwaffe. He himself was a ace unit, Essen Squadron.(note: Essen doesn't mean anything in German) Essen was actually not far from us. They were just south of us at Derus Field. Messerschmitt was a sharp guy; blonde hair, always clean shaven, upright, tall, and squared away. He himself had a been a veteran of the Round Table. What was shocking about him was the fact that he'd once been a part of our old rivals, Geist Squadron. However, he jumped ship just shortly before we arrived at the Round Table and joined up with Essen.

The only thing that annoyed me about him was his tendency to repeat certain phrases. One was "...a screw loose." He said about everyone he didn't like.

"Man, my old squad commander really had a screw loose; just completely nuts this guy." he told me about the Geist commander. But we all quickly took to him.

By January 25th, we'd been getting into the routine until Colonel Galland called me into see him that day. Galland was like the older version of Messerschmitt. He had this very distinguished mustache. I heard many stories of Galland's feats in combat. For some reason I never doubted these, and that was strange for the somewhat cynical person I'd become.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes. Sit down. Now, before we go any further...I want to make something perfectly clear."

"Go ahead."

"What am I about to tell you cannot leave this room until I authorize it...is that understood?"

I wondered for a moment about what this could mean. "Yes sir."

"Now," he began while standing up, "we've been having a lot of border troubles as of late...as you know. But now things are about to change. Lieutenant, I've been given orders to prepare for war." he said. I froze right then. I wasn't sure why at the moment. It was rather surprising. The only thing I could say was, "What?"

"I thought that would be your reaction. We're going to take back the lands that were taken from us in one fell swoop. High Command believes that the other nations will no doubt negotiate...and for what? Just a few hundred miles of land?" he said in contempt, and while laughing.

I sat with a blank stare as he went on telling me about the plan. We were going to attack Osea and take back the territories that we were tricked into selling. The reason he was telling me was because we were to be the spearhead of Operation Blau Meteor. Phase One was to destroy all Osean air power on the ground and in the air and knocking out all communications. Phase Two was taking out hard points along the way, installations, bases, checkpoints, ammo facilities and the second part of it was taking out targets of opportunity. The rules of engagement were simple, no residential areas were to be bombed. However, Fauna's primary duty was the destruction of all air power. This consisted of fighters, bases, transport aircraft, even their naval fighters. Of course, we wouldn't be doing this alone. We'd have other squadron assisting us. This was going to be a huge gamble.

"Now, the area around Hieirlark is where most of the Osean defenses are concentrated. It just so happens that the eastern section of the Waldreich Mountains has a similar topographical layout to the city of Hierlark and its surroundings. Better yet, there is an old mining facility near Mr. Durum. You'll get all the practice you'll need. You'll be leading teams of strike planes from the squadron there for the next few weeks for training. These guys are good flyers, but don't have a whole lot of experience with live fire. And I figure your presence might lift morale. However, we don't want to give away the fact we are preparing for war. That is why this must remain secret. You will not tell any of your subordinates this information...yet. The only thing they have to know is where they are training at. Operations will begin tomorrow at 0800." he said.

"Understood."

"Is there anything else?" he said.

"Umm...actually, there's something that's been eating away at my brain for the past several weeks. I ran into a foreign ace, possible Osean, who called himself Speed Demon. There were also rather foreign callsigns consisting of Viper, Breaker, and even Scorpion."

"Speed Demon? This was the Round Table, right?" Galland asked.

"Yes. He flew a rather strangely colored F-14." I replied.

"Interesting. You know, that reminds me of an ace another pilot of mine ran into there. Only this one, also possibly an Osean flew an F-15. He called himself 'Death Angel' or something."

"Death Angel?" I said in surprise, "well...judging by the way the Oseans flew at B7R they don't have the right to give themselves those monikers."

It was a somewhat arrogant statement. No doubt these pilots had skill, but if B7R was anything to go by, they seemed to love to run away when things didn't go their way. I thought perhaps Sayla was right...Osea couldn't handle immediate pressure.

_**Countdown**_

My second war would begin and end in the Waldreich Mountains. How well I would know it. I came here with several planes in tow to shoot at fake targets; I returned to fight a single plane. It began in a peace that I wished could have been the same; I returned to battle in the midst of a nuclear cataclysm. The Waldreich Mountains stretched from Sudentor to the edges of North Belka. The trees were old and seemed to stretch forever. It was lush and full of life. Near the western edge of the Waldreich Mountains were a series of towns and the city of Sudentor a stone's throw away from them. Over looking them was the ancient Stier Castle. At the end of each practice flight we would do a fly over of the castle and return to base. The only problem was the flights were somewhat long, requiring mid-air refueling. There were no accidents in these, as many of the pilots from the 3rd Wing squadrons, Debel and Corani, were experienced, though not veteran, fliers. Some of them would invariably ask questions about our time at the Round Table.

"Oh, it's nothing special. Most of the fighting there is over anyway." said Santiago during one of these missions.

The schedule for such missions were twice a week. The mission objectives varied every sortie. We changed things every time we went out. Everyone began to think this would be some routine thing. However, only I knew what the missions were truly for; there was just one problem...there was no way anyone with half a brain couldn't deduce that something big was going to happen. By February 9th, troops were secretly moving to the border. Of course, it was no secret to us. We could clearly see trucks and transports moving to the borders. By now, the cat was fully out of the bag. Soon everyone figured that war was coming. Galland thought I told the troops early. I replied that all this preparation was impossible to hide from the others.

"There's something big going on." said Max on the 11th.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to war." said Freya.

"No way. It's probably some big training exercise. They have these things all the time." said Max.

"You know they called up several airborne divisions; they do not usually call them up unless it's something important. I don't want to go into specifics but..." Sienna began.

"Why them? Why now?" asked Max.

"Manel told me they're all at his base sitting alert as we speak. He thinks we're going to war...and soon." Sienna said.

"How'd you figure all this out?" asked Rafe.

"I did some low flying passes the other day over several of the bases around the northern area. They were all empty. So the only thing I had to do was figure out which base had which unit." said Sienna, smiling ear to ear.

"Hell, we should put Rube in the cockpit and make you our new intelligence officer!" I said.

There was no denying it now. War was imminent. On the seventeenth, a special meeting of all officers and enlisted men. Galland briefed us all.

"I know many of you are concerned about the major moves that have been going on. I suppose for some of you, the secret's already out. There's no point in denying it now. We are preparing for war." he said with many concerned grumbles around the room. "We don't know what's going to happen yet. But I will tell you this. What has started cannot be stopped. So if you have not made out a will, or taken any other such measures...I suggest you do that now. However, you will pleased that command has seen fit for you to have the week off. Once you return, the entire base will be on constant red/yellow alert status. Dismissed."

Everyone was lost in shock and awe. Everyone was in a mixture of sadness, anger, confusion, and happiness.

"We're going to war again! We're going to war again! I can't wait!" Santiago said.

As I sat next to Sienna...I did not leave when everyone else did. Everyone else left except us two. "Another year, another war. Nothing new." said Sayla on her way out.

"It'll be fun to get back into the aerial scraps. It'll be just like old times." said Rafe.

When everyone else left, I noticed Sienna was doing her nails...an odd time to do such a thing. I sat there for several minutes...and I do not remember why I did that.

"Cry havoc...and let slip the dogs of war." she said.

"Charmed...to say the least." I said. I was never one to fully appreciate her odd quotations. Sometimes I wondered if she was just showing off, but then again, she possessed an absurd amount of intellect.

"So...are you going home to Aki? Well, never mind...stupid question. You couldn't resist her. You know...you know what they say about women carrying children. Their hormones are raging, they..." Santiago said slipping back inside.

"Okay, that's enough! Go away." I said.

"Fine." he said and walked off. Sienna didn't say much of anything. She still was quoting her plays and musical scores while polishing her fingernails. I guess she earned it. She was the smartest, hardest working person in our group. A little personal manicure wouldn't hurt, now would it? She said nothing, but she kept looking in my direction as if she was confirming what Santiago was saying. She said, "Go back and see your wife, goddamn it." Of course. There was no forethought about it. I knew it had to be done. I couldn't just leave without saying my goodbyes. What kind of a man would I be if I did not? Why would I? I did not take her from that hellish Versua for nothing. I loved her. I had to see her one last time.

I couldn't walk home without the many questions running through my head. What would Osea do? What kind of tactics would its military use? Who was this Speed Demon? Who was this Death Angel? What would I have to do to help win the war? What if I didn't come back? What would happen to Aki and my little girl? What would happen to my comrades? What would my parents think?

Then again, my internal questions weren't the only ones making the noise. It was the constant trucks and planes flying overhead. They were full of supplies and men. Anyone with half a brain could figure out what was going on. I knew that some time away from the airplane would clear my head. But when I walked in the door of my humble house, it was obvious that this wasn't possible. After all, Aki wasn't stupid. She knew war was imminent as well. She'd lived through wars after all. Why would it be totally unreasonable to assume she did not know the war was coming? The week went by far too fast. When I left, the only thing I remember were the tears in her eyes. My destiny was clear; I would return to the battlefield. The only question now was...when? When we would go?

_**The Battle Plan**_

All of us as a division met in the ready room on March 1. The specific details of who would do what had yet to be handed down. However, everyone was given maps of the areas we were to attack. We needed to know what was going to be in our path. We had to know where the air bases where, where the infantry was, where the enemy ships where, and most importantly, where their communications where. Sienna and Rube worked all night on deciphering the details of the intelligence reports and working them in a model. They were masters of gathering information. It showed where everything we knew was. It showed where our infantry is in relation to the Osean's. The only thing there was to do was to sort out the details.

"All right. The Oseans have five infantry divisions on this front. The problem is that they're so spread out we can easily catch them in an envelopment if we move fast enough. We have...15. The biggest problem will be the 79th Airborne Division. They are the elites...then again, elite is a relative term." Rube began.

We all laughed.

"The 79th will be directly attacked by three divisions. Spearheading it will be the 8th Panzer Regiment. At the same time, we believe that the nearby 3rd Armored Division will be attacked by the entire 7th Panzer Corps. Finally, for our purposes, Hierlark is defended by the 4th Infantry. However, since the Oseans do not have a defensive line at all...we can slice right through that. The 6th Parachute regiment of the 8th Fallschirmajager will seize the Hudson Hydroelectric Plant. The other two will neutralize these two airfields here and here."

"For our part of the invasion, well be providing top cover for the ground troops and preventing ant counterattacks from the air. The 18th Fighter Squadron will be right behind us with their ultra-long range air to ground missiles. They will disable all of Osea's radars along that front. Then we'll finish the rest."

"So we'll use the Albright canyon to sneak into their lines, then when the radars are gone, everyone else will fall in behind. It'll be just like we practiced in Waldreich." I said.

"You mean the 1-2-3 plan?" asked Rafe.

"Yeah. We use the canyon to mask our appearance on radar, pop up behind their lines and destroy all planes on the ground we can find. Albright Canyon is right next to the main Hieirlark Air Base. Afterwards, we'll engage the enemy in any air to air combat. Once the paratroopers have seized the base, we'll be landing with all of squadron command's auxiliary units. It's not going to be easy."

"Do we know when the attack will jump off?" Max asked.

"Not right now. The date's so secret that not even Wing Command knows." said Rube.

"Well, it could change. If they say the 18th is going in front of us, then we can just bypass the canyon and attack the bases." Freya added.

"That seems like the most logical approach." said Sienna.

The speculations went on all day and night. The suspense was killing us. As for the entire army as a whole, morale was high. We were going to take back what was taken from us. So I looked west to the horizon one night, and suddenly realized that the people that had helped drain our country were right over that horizon. I couldn't wait to take the fight to Osea.

March 7th. We were still sitting around waiting for orders. Everyone spent their days memorizing the maps, socializing, playing cards, watching the rare quality programming that was on television, planning out future scenarios and how to handle them, writing wills and final letters, drinking, and watching the build up of troops. By March 11th, there were over 600,000 troops on the western front. How Osea could not even notice these massive build ups was beyond me. On March 15th, we were shown a lot of pro-party propaganda films shown. Then there were a lot of war movies shown. Some came from foreign countries. Another tradition was to the watch the war movies from the country that was to be attacked. In this case, we watched Osea's foreign misadventure in the 1960s and laughed at it. The day after that was Briefing Day. This is where all the specific duties of every element of the participating parties were handed down. Usually this was accompanied by a prepared Order of the Day by top ranking military officials. So when Galland handed me our squadron's I immediately walked to the squadron ready room.

"Okay, listen up people. And please do not consider this a bunch of crap. I just received this from up high and they have this to say, "To the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the mighty Belka Federation, the greatest battle of our time is approaching. You will fight to reclaim the honor, pride and prestige of Belka. You reclaim that which was lost to the trickery and deceit of a so-called great nation named Osea. You will stand stall and fight like devils to reclaim that which was taken away from us. We are now Operation Blau Meteor, and we are the righteous hammer that will pound our betrayers into the hard steel of the anvil and that hammer will come down soon. Go with pride and make Belka proud." I said reading off the notice. I only recieved blank stares.

"Okay now that pretentious patriotic stuff out of the way...We got one objective. We're leading the entire 3rd Wing in an attack on Hieirlark. D-Day is March 25th, H-Hour 0100 hrs. The 18th Squadron will blast all the active radar sites near Mt. Hood. After they take care of those, we'll be pouring into the gap. Our job is simple, to knock out any and all enemy airpower and provide top cover for the strike planes. Blau Squadron will watch our left flank and...Geist...will watch our right. Oh and by the way, the codeword to begin operations is 'Adlertag'. Eagle Day. That's really only important if they push up the date or something. Any questions?"

Everyone simply gave me a blank stare mixed with approving nods.

"Alright. Well, the only thing we can do is wait now. Hey wait a minute...isn't your birthday on the 25th Max?" I said.

Everyone started patting Max on the back.

"Yeah, yeah. Going to war and turning twenty-three. Hell of a birthday party!" he said.

"Just don't die. Birthday and a funeral...I can't bear the thought. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened." said Sayla.

"Don't worry. I'll be just fine." he responded.

Everyone was full of fire. We all wanted to go. Our destiny was clear; the war zone awaited. Now the only thing we could do was wait. I remember sitting down that evening and writing one final letter to Aki in case I didn't make it back. After the war I threw it away having no use for it. But I remember one part of it.

_...There's one thing I do want you to do for me. I want you to tell Evey that whatever she wants to do she can do it. Everything in this world belongs to her as everything belonged to us when we were children. But most of all, I want you to be happy. Should you find someone else that does that when I'm gone then that is all I require. I just wanted for you what I wanted back when we were just young and friendly in that dry country of Verusa. I wanted you to come with me because I'd knew you'd be happy here. If one takes away all I have left, then allowing you to have that happiness is the only thing I have to live and die for._

_Next Chapter: Aldertag_


	11. Adlertag

Chapter 10: Adlertag

The End of the Beginning

On March 25th, 1995 at exactly 2400 hrs, every plane in Belka started its engines. Minutes later, the first planes involved in the initial striking and SEAD(suppression of enemy air defenses) forces left the runway. The next group, the assault group, would take off fifteen minutes later. We were in that group. Behind us were seventy planes, eighteen Su-32s, twelve F-16s, thirty Tornado GR4s, and ten Mig-21-93s. Each pilot had been given a specific target target to hit. Behind our group were the transports and escorts of the 6th Parachute Regiment of the 8th Fallschirmajager Division. To the south of us over 700 planes were rushing through. On the eastern border, hundreds of planes were pouring through B7R.

We proceeded in radio silence. I kept looking back at a picture of Aki I'd stuck on the flight panel. I wondered what she was thinking right now. She probably had no idea we were about to initiate the biggest war since the forties.

The green, illuminated view in our NVGs was immense. Below us were the valleys that we'd seen in our practice sessions in the Waldreich Mountains. We moved along the proper heading and we began to approach the magic line. Suddenly, we saw several planes flying past us, no doubt members of the 18th.

I gave a hand signal to Sienna and Max who were on the left and the right of me. We got into a single file line and the other planes began to narrow their formations. For about 30 miles we traveled like this. Below us was the bend of a narrow river; it was our signal that we were in enemy territory. We had not been bounced and we'd achieved total surprise.

"Raven Nest, this is Fauna One. Tally ho. I repeat, Tally ho." I said.

"Roger that. Good luck."

"All aircraft...begin operations."

Every flight split up to perform it's given task. One flight would neutralize several communication centers. Another would attack the airfields and the planes on the ground. Two would attack the military bases in the general area. One would destroy the power substation between the city and Hood power plant that would later be captured by the paratroops. We in Fauna were within fifty miles of the city and its defenses on combat air patrol.

"This is Raven One, we've just picked up several enemy aircraft about 300 miles south of us."

"All right, all planes maintain defensive formation. Don't let them get near the city."

We flew out to meet the unknown enemy. We didn't know how many there were, but we knew one thing...it was going to be a slaughter.We flew to the outside of the city. There were no alerts at all, no SAMs were fired, no AAA being fired at us, it was perfect to lure the enemy into our trap. We'd practiced learning this landscape for a month, and with the exception of a few slight variations in the terrain we had the entire area dialed in our minds. To counter the enemy, I decided to move into our variant "wagon wheel" defensive formation. We spread out to different points of the compass and began slowly flying in a large circle with a mile diameter between us and each plane was a 1000 ft above the other.

"Arm radar missiles." I said.

"Roger. Master arm on." said Sienna.

"They're coming in a wide line...this is gonna be like target practice!" said Max.

"Stay slow and stay spread out." I continued.

I was constantly checking with the AWACS, Raven Nest, and my own radar. The disadvantage to the formation is that our radar can look straight ahead, up , and down but not as well to the sides. The advantage is with everyone in the squadron providing mutual protection.

"I have a lock, firing!"

Rafe was the first to get a lock on. He fired his missile. Then Freya, then Max, then Sienna...

"Here's another one! Man this is fun!" said Freya.

"Like shooting fish in a barrel!" said Santiago after making the seventh kill.

"They're breaking up! Change to CREF, now(Close Radar Echelon Formation)." I said. "Raven Nest requesting data link."

A CREF formation was a modern variant of a tactic what old Osean prop planes would use. They would bank into each other when an enemy approached them. If one plane was followed, the enemy plane was led into the guns of another. In this case, we each provided a large radar net for the others since we all shared the same IFF data and was linked to the AWACS. We all banked into each other. Half the flight would fire and other half would follow the enemy plane wherever it went. Rafe, Freya, and Santiago were the "Chasers". They banked and followed the enemy craft as planned. Soon the entire flight was down...except for three planes. Soon the enemy planes were breaking off. We couldn't let them escape.

"Let's finish them off! Don't let em get away!" said Max.

Sienna had looped over me and accelerated towards the enemy fighter at full speed firing an Archer missile(why the would Namco not put the QAAM on the Mig-29...beyond me!)

Max had closed behind the other enemy fire and began to shatter it with cannon fire. Sayla had torn the other to bits with a third radar missile. Soon the our total kill counts were 13, 11, 12, 10, 20, 21, and 17.The last three being Salya, Freya, and Rafe's total kill counts from earlier in their careers.

"Fauna Squadron, this is Raven Nest. The Airborne troops are landing at their respective areas. Essen took out all the enemy fighters on the ground before they even launched. The ground troops are on their way in."

"Excellent. Keep us posted." I replied.

"Hmm...now let's see what this city looks like anyway. It might be a nice place to live." Max said.

The city was small and quaint. It was a very hilly and forested town. From where we could see, it seemed like the Osean version of Obersalzburg.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." I said.

"I bet those people down there will welcome us with open arms." Said Santiago.

Santiago was right. Most of Hieirlark was pro-Belkan; and why wouldn't it be? This land was our land. Osea had no right to it, we all felt. Things were going very smoothly. There was no time to wonder who those pilots were, what planes they were using, or why they responded so slowly. It didn't matter to us. We were only concerned with getting the job done with. However, it didn't stop us from wondering.

"God, that was so easy. They were just so defenseless." said Sienna.

I thought this token resistance the Oseans put up would only be a prelude of the slaughter to come. And it wasn't just us. We had reports all throughout the night of even the strike pilots getting air to air kills. We only wondered what was going on south of us. Within the hour the airfield was secure. The 8th Fallschirmajager Division had accomplished all of its objectives without firing a shot. Both airfields were taken, the power plant was in our hands, and soon the ground forces would be streaming in. It was a wonderful feeling and for the next several weeks it would increase, but nothing lasts forever...

Respect

April 2nd. We'd fully consolidated our defenses around Hieirlark. The good thing about this area was the fact that for the most part, we held the high ground. The paratroops held that high ground with all of their artillery and anti-air weapons. 10th Mountain held the western hills. We'd sealed off the exits in or out and the town was placed under martial law. The Panzer divisions were moving non-stop toward our orginal borders. 

However, to most of the people this was of no concern. The few Oseans that lived there were shocked when their neighbors were welcoming the troops just as Santiago had predicted. They were out and waving their old Belkan flags. We were pleased to see that everything was going smoothly. We were treated every well and there was few, if any, incidents. Even the Oseans took it somewhat better than we expected. I guess they were amazed at the speed of our army. Then again, their army all but collapsed. It didn't say much about the fighting quality of their troops.

At that point, we thought the Oseans had the worst pilots in the world. Their planes were just as advanced as ours. The problem that we saw was that their combat training was nothing short of pathetic. The second wave should have at least tried to take evasive action. The fact we made fourteen kills without effort was both an insult to our training and a relief. We could get this over with soon.

Things in Ustio were much different. From what I heard, the way we destroyed the initial resistance was nothing compared to the annihilation of the UAF at the Round Table. The UAF put up a much fiercer resistance. They were still holding a sliver of their old country to the south. We, strangely enough, didn't have anything personal against. Although this was from people that wanted a fighting quality in an enemy.

"Man, if this is war, then let me stay in it. We've beaten back several assaults already." Saniago said.

We'd set up on the main airfield at Hierlark, the future site of the Hieirlark Flight Academy. The paratroops were generous enough to set up defensive positions around the airfield. Twice a day we would take off on combat air patrol and we'd fly all around the valley eager to take on enemy planes. We'd listen to the Osean broadcasting and they were pissed. The Oseans were calling for fire and brimstone for this "insult" for an incursion into a land their government had cheated us out of. How unfair the world was! Osea loved to play dirty but to be cheated themselves was the ultimate insult. We laughed at this because it was only a matter of time before the day of reckoning was up on them. We hoped to inflict so much damage on their military that they would prefer to negotiate rather than keep fighting.

To the paratroops we were like the knights of the sky. They often looked up to us and waved from their positions. It was a momentary release from dirty life in the infantry. However, it was the infantry that seized this land our new base was on. There was mutual respect.

I would write to Aki almost everyday. An A-10 "camel", as we called them, would ferry mail to our base and back.

This is a wonderful feeling. It is not, oddly enough, battle that does it, but the extent of our success is intoxicating. I know one day our child is gonna look at this and I can say, this was the work of her father.

With few others to write to, the others in the squadron would write her letters too. She became, jokingly, "the squadron's wife". The letters ranged from the introspective to the downright silly. It was all to reassure her that things were going well.

Colonel Galland was pleased as well. We were taking town after town as all resistance melted. But there was one problem: the rain. To the west of us, the rain was making movement harder; but our army still pushed on. However, that was actually not the immediate threat. One thing that most of us had forgotten to take into account was the Osean Navy. We were simply sitting around after another day of flying, sharing humorous stories.

"So tell me about the one girl you met in Alsace?" I asked Max, bringing up a rather humorous encounter.

"Oh, Helena. Well, I was sitting in the bar near the Opera House there. Now this is just before we went back to the Round Table. It's about -10 degrees Celsius(rougly 20-25 degrees Fahrenheit) out there. It started snowing all the sudden that day. Now, she's coming out in this snow with almost nothing on. So being the gentleman I was, I took my coat..."

"Guys! Listen up. We've got a flotilla of Osean ships right outside the bay!" Sienna came running in.

"Hmm...so the mighty Osea is attacking with its Navy huh? Well, let's teach the men of the sea a little lesson they'll never forget." Max said.

"Let's get moving people." I said.

We had not trained specifically for battles against naval elements. We knew about their capabilities. If in the hands of capable people, their Navy was a formidable force. As we were to discover though...the Navy was simply a sitting duck in the face of sheer numbers, ferocity, skill, zeal, and in our case...luck. It made no difference how skilled the crews were...

Our scouts had spotted the Osean fleet off of Cressers Island. It was dangerously close to our homeland. It was believed to be the Osean 7th Carrier group, also known as Task Force 58; it was led by two carriers, the OFS Vigilance and Reliant. They had been old war horses of the past and from Rube told me it seemed that they also launched planes to fight at the Round Table. The orders came down: sink the Vigilance and the Reliant. We were anxious to give Osea a real slap in face by sinking their ultra-expensive carriers.

Everyone was rushing to get as many planes into the air as possible. By the time we got up, there were already planes zooming past us.

"Man, they got everyone piling in on this. This is gonna be far too easy." Said Max.

"Don't be so cocky," said one of Blau Squadron's pilots pulling up beside us. "I've fought against their carrier forces. They're no pushovers like the air force."

"Charles, is that you? You've always been the skeptic...and now they got you leading this unit." said Sienna.

"I wouldn't put it past him to think that. Charlie's been around for a bit." Manel said. He banked his Hornet into me.  
"You know, Sienna told me about that pilot you ran into at B7R. Now I think he may be..."

"Hold on...we've got carrier jets incoming. 340 to 360." said Max.

Immediately, the eight planes of Blau squadron broke off. Below us where several strike aircraft, Su-32s, were racing towards the enemy.

"Heads up, here they come!" I said.

The enemy planes were firing missiles at long range. Immediately the order went out to break and everyone began climbing and diving to avoid the enemy missiles. I saw one plane destroyed completely by an enemy missile. The others were a little shaken up by this but everyone continued on. Blau drew first blood as they had raced ahead and fired several of their radar missiles (which had a slightly longer range than our own) and took out several enemy fighters. Suddenly, another wave appeared behind the enemy fighters.

"Keep the strike planes out of range, everyone else get in there and take down those fighters." Charlie said over the radio.

I could immediately tell that these fighters were putting up a much better fight than the planes we encountered earlier. They were sticking together in small groups and turning aggressively into our own fighters.

"Fauna Two, take the others and lure the enemies up to high altitude. Three you come with me, we'll pick off the stragglers." I said.

The other fighters broke off and Max and I maintained our position. We turned hard left and right to lure enemies to us. However, we slowly moved away from the battle zone. As we predicted, two fighters had broken off to engage us. I sent Max to cover as I allowed the enemy fighters to chase me; it was standard operating procedure for air to air combat. However, as I did another hard turn I noticed the other fighter was not there. I suddenly realized what was going on. The other pilot read our plan and moved to counter it. I turned back, just barely shaking off a missile, and ascended to support Max. However, I was targeted by another pair of enemy planes. A pair of Grau Squadron Su-27s had cut into our merge forcing the enemy pilot off of me. Rafe had started firing towards the enemy with his cannons, but they were overshooting their targets. I had suggested to him not to do that too much due to his reduced depth perception. However, he did manage to force the other fighter off Max and finally he shot him down.

The enemy planes were colored a traditional gray with black markings. However, there was one that was different...one that seemed strangely familiar.

"Whoa! Fauna One watch it! There's a pair of weird looking planes on you!"

"What the...?"  
I quickly turned my airplane to the right and only got a glimpse of them. The first plane was one that looked like Blau squadrons planes; however, that plane was covered in gray and black camouflage markings. However, it was not as recognizable as the other one. it was the same blue and golden paint scheme I'd seen on the mysterious fighter at Round Table; it was the Speed Demon...

While the others were savaging the enemy planes, my fangs came out. I wanted to see if this ace was any good. I rolled and dove and the enemy planes followed. But they were not letting up. One missile was fired, I released chaff to shake it off. Max had fallen behind the enemy fighters. I could see him diving down as I made a sharp turn back in and prepared to climb again. But then I saw the other fighter do a loop at full speed to get back behind Max. I quickly turned in to cover Max and fired one Archer as I broke to escape a missile fired by this "Speed Demon". Suddenly, he sped past me and prepared to turn in on me again. He then fired a second missile at me. I deployed a flare pod and broke right. I suddenly heard a "beep" on my radar...I had scored a direct hit. However, the other plane seemed to take offense to this and turned back into me firing another pair of missiles.

"Thanks for getting that guy off me! But we've got more fighters coming in." Max said.

"They're coming out the woodwork!" said Sienna.

As we continuted to dance all over the skies, I saw a larger group of enemy planes approaching. We were completely outnumbered, but that was not a problem at all.

"Raven Nest to all flight leaders. We have a wire from Long Arrow. We're just on the extreme edge of it's range. They want to see if it can reach your position."

"A Fire Mission from Long Arrow...you've got to be kidding me! All right. This is gonna blow you're minds Fauna. Blau One to Long Arrow, Fire Mission Alpha-Zulu, 3-2-1 by 3-3-0. Fire for effect...over." Charlie said.

The only thing we knew about Long Arrow was that it was the codeword for the Excalibur. I'd seen it many times, but I had never seen it fire it's weapons. Few had ever seen it in person; I suspect Charlie had.

"All aircraft break right now! NOW!" he yelled.

"Oh jeez!" I said.

I had no idea what was coming so I simply turned the airplane to the right as hard as I could. Suddenly, I felt the sky rumble and suddenly it lit up as a gigantic beam of light fell from the sky.

"Whoa!" one pilot said.

"Unbelievable!" another pilot said.  
"Next round incoming in 5...4...3...2...1...Impact!"

Suddenly, another giant beam of light fell from the sky at a different angle.

"They're breaking off! Tell Long Bow thanks for the support. All planes resume course. Let's finish this!" said Blau Leader.

I couldn't believe my eyes. This gigantic laser was forcing the enemy to retire. I'd even managed to shake off the "Speed Demon" that was harassing me. Soon we began pursuing the enemy further north. As we approached the carrier task force, they began firing everything at us. The enemy fired at us relentlessly with their ship launched surface to air missiles. However, we shook off the poorly made missiles. The enemy planes regained their momentum. It just so happened that we were carrying some air to surface missiles our fighters.

"They really don't like us." one pilot said.

"They're just sitting ducks. Let's pick them off one by one." Santiago said.

Everyone was diving on the Osean ships with bombs, missiles, and even their cannons. The battle was chaotic and brutal. The Oseans were putting up a fierce resistance as they tried everything to shoot us down. Six of the Su-32s were shot down as they tried to attack one of the heavy cruisers. However, one got a hit in and severely damaged it. I ordered Santiago, Rafe and Freya to finish it off. They came in a group launching their missiles at the cruiser, but it still stayed afloat. Finally, an anti-ship missile from one of the Blau planes put it out of action in a brilliant explosion.

I launched both of my Archers at two planes that were trying to take off from the carrier and hit them both before they had a chance to even get off the ship. As I pulled up I saw Max diving on it with his missiles. He fired two of the massive missiles at the ship and amazingly, a massive explosion ripped through the deck. He must have targeted it perfectly into the flight elevator. I wasn't sure if it was the Vigilance or the Reliant, but in the end it did not matter.

"Special delivery!" He said.

"Well done! Man, I can't believe it only took two missiles!" I said in amazement.

The slaughter was far from over. Messerschmitt had scored a direct hit on the second cruiser and it also exploded. Soon everyone piled in on the last carrier. It's defense was fierce but we soon cracked it. Everyone dropped everything they had remaining on it and soon it was a burning hulk. It wasn't a precision destruction like the previous one. It took awhile for it to sink, and even then reinforcements were still pounding the carrier. In a mere hour and a half, we'd destroyed two carriers, two cruisers, seventeen enemy aircraft compared to a loss of ten of our own. The losses were heavier than expected, but the result was still the same. We'd taught the Oseans some much needed respect. We were not to be underestimated.  
Nicknames and a Shattered Enemy

A day after the massive air/sea battle, we listened to a panicked Osean media. The damage we'd done was clear. Thousands of sailors were killed in our ferocious attack. Some part of me figured that this was a horrible way to die...but there was a war on after all. (just to put it into perspective, a modern aircraft carrier has 5,000 people on board give or take)

But far be it from us to be punished for it. We were being rewarded for it. Galland came in one day and said we were all in for promotions.

"Wow...all for a few ships." said Max in response.

I suppose he didn't fully understand the magnitude of this victory. It was the worst naval disaster to happen to the Osean Fleet since the forties. There were also numerous shakeups. Essen's aces were sent to Blau squadron to replace the three that were lost in the battle. So Manel became the fifth plane in Blau squadron. More planes were being sent in to reinforce the units already there.

To a degree, we underestimated our enemy. That would not happen again. I was also concerned since my old self-proclaimed nemesis, the Speed Demon, had gotten away. I then wrote to Aki later on in the day.

"...Things are looking up. We have given our enemy a great drubbing and it seems that more smashing successes such as this will give us victory in short order. I hope life without me is treating you well. I'll know we'll see each other soon."

She wrote back, "...I have heard much about what happened. Everyone here is tied to their radios and televisions looking for some information about what is going on. But you are safe and that is all that matters to me...to us..."

As much as I missed Aki, being tied to our duty was not so bad. We had done much to confuse, demoralize, and destroy our enemy. The only thing we could do now was to wait for the enemy to come back...or begin negotiations. If the enemy was going to come in full force, we awaited the apocalyptic battle.

The camaraderie in our group was very close. We had become a cohesive whole and nothing could stop us. To further mock our enemies, we decided to do something that reflected a story Rafe told us about our enemy.

"The Osean pilots in the west are reservists. Most of them have no combat experience at all. But they all give each other these stupid callsigns like Maverick and Goose and Ice."

"Why don't we do that?" Sienna said while laughing, "We give ourselves silly names to make our enemies turn their heads."

"Okay...what do call ourselves?"  
"Well, we can call little Santo here, Nightingale since he's up all night with the ladies on leave, right? Am I right?" said Max.

"Hey I'm not always up!"

"Of course! Loverboy would be a good title for you."

"No...Nightingale's a good title."

"What should we name you, Boss? Let's see...Widowmaker. They call really bad planes that, and you surely do just that in combat." said Sienna.

"It sounds entertaining, but grim. What about...what do we call Sayla?" I asked.

"I don't want any silly nicknames." she said waving her hand in contempt of this foreboding embarrassing situation.

"Cardshark! She's really good at bridge." said Freya.

"I am not that good." Sayla responded pushing off Freya.

"Well, you can accept a little hubris, love. And I can be...Bella. Like that play you're always talking about. You know, the one with the guys and the swords and whatnot." Freya said in response.

"I will be...Destroyer...yeah...I took out that carrier! I'll be Destroyer!" said Max.

"Rafe...I dub you...um...Vampire. You know, since bats are blind and you...nevermind." I said.

"Whatever, I don't care." he said in a nonchalant tone.

"Sienna, being our brains will be...Raven. Raven!"

"Yes! I love that name! The smartest of all birds I will be." she replied.

So that was that. We would be known only by our nicknames. We would plunge into many more battles with these same names. Little did we know that our most formidable of enemies would have nicknames of their own.

Next Chapter: Enter Task Force November


	12. Enter Task Force November

Chapter 11: Enter Task Force November

It was April 7th. Blau Squadron and our group were doing a combat air patrol over the central lines of battle. It was where the war now shifted. The ground troops had now reached their final objectives but were facing determined counterattacks by Osean troops. The nominal task was to re-establish our air supremacy over the center, as the enemy was now challenging us for it. Below us was a town called St. Alaze. In most of the towns in our conquered areas, the populace welcomed us with open arms. It was not the case in Detroit. Detroit had no strategic purpose, yet the Oseans were defending it like animals. It was then that the war began to turn savage...and the savagery would rise to greater heights before the month was over.

As we patrolled, we expected little resistance in this area. That is until Charlie, Blau Leader, noticed something strange.

"Hang a minute...I'm getting some hits on my radar...first bad guys we've seen in this area for awhile."

"This is Raven Nest. There are at least sixteen hits on our radar, bearing 090."

"Sixteen?" I said, while checking to make sure it wasn't a glitch in the radar.

"They are spaced about a few miles apart...wait a minute, this is group's acting strange...some are slowing down and the others are still coming."

I signaled Sienna by hand to get into defensive formation, but by the time that happened, my missile alert went off.

"Oh jeez! Break! Break!"

Everyone scattered to avoid the missiles, some deploying countermeasures. As everyone formed up again to move in for the kill, another wave of missiles moved in and we saw the silhouettes of planes in the distance.

"They're trying to leapfrog!"

Leapfrogging was a textbook strategy where long range missiles were fired by distant jets to distract enemy fighters for other fighters to get close; sometimes the process is repeated in reverse. There was no use for defense. It was time to strike fast and strike hard. Everyone formed up again and we saw the small, nimble fighters of the enemy splitting up to attack us...all eight of them.  
"We'll take the lead formation," I said. "The rest are yours Blau team."

"Roger, Leave it to us."

We all fired missiles at the initial group and they fired at us. Both our flight and theirs were playing a deadly game of chicken. As everyone broke to avoid the missiles, I was amazed to find that no one had scored a direct hit. Everyone was mirroring the others movements. Suddenly, Blau came on the radio.

"These fighters...I've seen them before...Oh no! Watch it!"

"He's on the left of you. You can shake him off."

"Watch it! These guys have got to Round Table veterans!"

"Round Table fighters, eh? No matter." said Sayla.

"Yeah, they go down like everybody else." said Santiago.

I did not share their hubris. These had to be Round Table fighters. I had never seen planes that flew this well that were not painted in the garish colors we'd seen. These fighters were painted a bright purple. They were so bright that if they were any brighter I would have been blinded.

"Wait a minute...aren't these the guys that gave Indigo a run for its money?"

That was a distressing statement. The Indigo guys were the "gentlemen" of the Round Table. The fact these guys had survived a battle with seasoned veterans of the Round Table was nothing short of amazing. These fighters attacked with a discipline that no one had seen in the Oseans; they flew much better than even the Naval squadrons we dueled over Cressers Island. The fighters were crisscrossing our won. We chased them in pairs or in threes, but every attack we made they shook off. Every attack they made we shook off. We would try to get to high altitude only to be cut off by diving enemy fighters and some from below.

Blau was having a hard time with their group. The fighters they were up against seemed nothing short of relentless as they were being hounded from all directions. It was the first time we'd ever faced an equal to our own skills.

"I can't get him off!"  
"Hang in there Captain!"

"Ah! I'm hit! I can't keep the plane in the air! They got-"

And with that Charlie was gone. Sienna pulled up rapidly to assist, but was cut off by two fighters from in front and behind. Suddenly, another voice came on the radio and it said the one thing that I did not want to hear.

"I'm hit!"

But this was no other Blau plane...it was Santiago's voice.

"Hey Nightingale! You alright?" I asked desperately trying to figure out what had happened.

"I'm fine. Wing's a little damaged though." he said.

"Look out! Left! Left!" Freya yelled out.

I turned right and saw the other planes that were attacking us. They swooped into our left flank and they were obviously the planes that were trying to pick us off at long-range. One plane flashed right by my plane. It was colored bright red with a single black wing. A second fighter dove past me.

"Red bodies, black tails...I've heard of these guys." one of the Blau pilots said.

I chased it and popped off several cannon shells at it, damaging it's left wing. The fighter pulled out and as I turned back towards the group, I could clearly see all the enemy planes going after Santiago's plane. That was a very unwise strategy.

"Keep those planes off Four! Go now!" I said.

I forget who launched two missiles into the group, but everyone locked on to the enemy planes and fired. Several of the bright purple planes tried to intervene. He flew on a collision course with us to cut us off. Suddenly, one of the Blau planes turned violently into him, firing a missile that ultimately destroyed the aircraft.

"That got him!" I heard Manel say.

"I saw that! Nice work."  
Santiago tried to fly back to our position. However, the other planes shook off our attacks and still pursued the enemy. Finally, they grew a brain and resumed their attacks on us.

"He's on your six!" Max yelled out.

Suddenly, one of the enemy planes we'd missed was right on my tail. Sienna and I broke left and the enemy plane followed, firing a missile in turn.

"Crossover! Crossover!" I yelled.

A "crossover" was a maneuver where two planes would bank into each other assuming one was being followed by an enemy. The lead plane would slow down and the second plane would speed up and cross each other's flight path going high and low. The second plane would deploy flares. The missile would lose track and by then the first plane would have slowed down and gotten into position to allow a quick missile lock. It was perfect for dealing with heat-seeking missiles.

We executed it to perfection and one plane went down by my hand. Kill number fifteen was on the books. The dance continued for several minutes before the enemies decided to retire; it was probably because of the exact same reason we left...a lack of fuel. The battle was a tactical draw. Two planes lost and two damaged on each side.

"Man, that was a close one. Maybe we were wrong about the Oseans." said Santiago.

"They were the exception, not the rule." Max responded.

"Well, that was a rather much needed deflation of ego, wouldn't you say?" Rafe said.

"Of course not. Any other squadron would have been dead; we got lucky too, but we are much more skilled." I said.

Over the next few days we had other close calls with extremely skilled Osean pilots. There was one set of Su-47s that attacked us in a short but violent skirmish. At first I couldn't believe Osea used such planes. Rafe's Mig was damaged and an enemy Berkut was damaged as well. The sudden addition of new enemy aces was not making sense. I put more pressure on Rube to find the truth.

"Rube, you think you can dig up some intelligence on the types of fighters being used, the pilots, etc? We need this stuff as soon as possible." He smiled at me. "Well, I am the intelligence officer after all." he said with confidence.

"Well, I need you to double your efforts. Sorry to be so insistent, but something's not adding up here. We've fought several of these squadrons over the last few day and they always seem to know where we are before we get there. I got a wire from Geist. Dora's had an encounter with one plane that matches the description of the Speed Demon."

"I'll get on the case. This stuff isn't easy to find; I'll do what I can, but I can't make any promises." he responded.

Apparently Command didn't agree. On the 10th, we received some shocking news from Sienna.

"What?!" Rube said in shock.

Sienna told us that she was to be our new formal intelligence officer, but was still to fly within our squadron. Rube would still be a intelligence liason for the wing, but for our squadron's purposes, Sienna would handle all future intelligence gathering operations. This also meant a promotion to Captain...and she wasn't the only one getting promoted.

"Congratulations Captain." she said handing me a set of double bar insignia.

"Whoa...when did they do this?" I asked.

"The Colonel had some other affairs to attend to so when he gave me the promotion, he simply told me to hand it to you."

I just froze. I couldn't believe that I was a Captain now. There was something about that title that really made me professional. I was already an elusive, sure-footed pilot...but now I had the title. But this was through proving myself in battle, not from years of service.

"Captain. I like that." I said.

"Congratulations, buddy...er...sir." Max said putting his arm around my shoulder.

"No, no, no. I'm still your buddy. There's no official rank here, you know that. It's just for show."

Despite this, we still needed more information about this new, skilled enemy. Osea hadn't fought a major war in over twenty-five years. Considering the fact that the average Osean fighter career was just over six years, there was no way entire flights of pilots could be this skilled. If it were just three or four, then such is expected. But there were no less than twelve of these groups as we learned information from Grau, Blau, and Geist squadrons in their swirling dogfights with the enemy. The enemy was also getting smarter, but so were we...

_**Musings and Findings**_

After the promotion notice, I simply sat in my room at the base and took stock of everything that had happened so far. I was a Captain, a month away from being a father to a baby girl, but I had an enemy that was dead-set on sending me home in a body bag. My parents wrote to me constantly, wondering if I was really alright. They probably thought the stress of war had gotten to me. I couldn't afford that to happen. But I sat there all the remaining day wondering about all of this stuff. Sleep took those thoughts away and the next morning it was all business. Sienna had rapidly gathered intelligence on our enemy. We didn't know who they were, but we knew what kinds of planes they flew and some of the unique names of the planes.

"Okay," she said, "this is what we know. I've done an overall case file on our Osean and Allied counterparts. This is what I've learned from other squadrons."

I looked at the notes Sienna had put together. It consisted of the following:

_1. Two planes: One believed to be a J35J Draken with the numbers "32" on it. The other has a single red wing. No formation pattern. Ustio front. _

2. Eight planes: The lead plane is confirmed as an F-4E Phantom with several F-5s in tow. Colored bright purple, encountered 7 April 1995, confirmed sighting at the Round Table with accounts from Colonel Henriech and Major Van Eck. Believed to be called Dragon; one account has dragon insignia. Not to be underestimated.

3. Four planes: Confirmed F-15Cs colored in a mixture of black and red. The lead plane has a black body with a single red wing on the left and the wingman has a red body single black wing one it. The other two planes are half red and half black (fall in behind leaders) Believed to be Round Table veterans. Encountered 7 April 1995. believed to be called "Red Crescent" and one has a strange callsign, "Bloody Mary", indicating that there is at least one female in the group.

4. Three planes: confirmed Su-47 Berkuts. Believed to be defectors; shoot down on sight. No other details are known.

5. Eight Planes: Believed to be oddly colored F-14Ds. Confirmed Round Table veterans. Encountered 2 April 1995. Accounts from other squadrons believe the lead plane is called "Speed Demon". Leads a "Scorpion" squadron. Utilizes tactics of Rot and Schnee. Said to be extremely ruthless. Before 2 April 1995, behavior was normal. After 2 April 1995, extremely aggressive. Extreme caution is to be taken.

6. Two planes: Two F-15Cs. Colored in a bright Silver color. In league with black/red F-15 squadron.

7. One plane: F-14D model, seen on Ustio front. Has a strange card emblem on fighter.

8. Four planes: F-16 models covered in checkerboard paint scheme, giving squadrons to the south trouble. Extremely agressive. Believed to be in league with Scorpion Squadron.

"Wow...this is interesting. So we only know the actual names of one of the squadrons."

"Exactly. This is all eighty percent unconfirmed. Most of them we have not even seen."

"But you believe it?"

"Of course I do. But the only way to really know for sure is to get out there and see for ourselves."

"I agree. Let's do a recon, just you and me. We'll see what hornet's nest we can stir up." I said.

"Hold on. There is one more thing. Most of these squadrons are in extreme south of our area. If you're willing to listen, I have a plan to take some of the pressure off of the center."

"Go ahead."

"Well, I was reading a book on Osean history and they told about a raid that happened when Osea was losing a war in the fourties. It set the conditions for a great and decisive victory by forcing the enemy to fight on their terms. Now...what if we could do the same?"

"For what purpose?" I asked.

"I hate to say it, but we're losing in the south. The lack of hills allow the Osean tanks to benefit from the open ground. It's obvious the ground needs to hold right? So we make a daring raid of our own to get the Oseans to stop attacking the center and focus on their weak area. If we can force them to fight on the flanks we can win. There are three things the Osean infantry dreads...urban combat, lack of air support, and mountain combat.

"So where do you suppose we strike?"  
"We take some planes from the south and we give the Oseans just enough intel. They'll attack in fury and we'll bog them down. We can make them scream for a negotiated peace."

"But the question is...where do we strike?" I asked again.

"Detroit's out. Too many civilian areas, too few military targets. By process of elimination..." she said while pausing.

"Yeah?"

She looked me with the most serious look she could muster.

"...Oured."

It took me nearly thirty seconds to speak. I knew she was an ambitious sort, but this...

"...You've got to be kidding me!"

"Look," I said, "I know you're the smartest person in the world...but slow down. We don't need to follow through on every idea. Now I agree with the combat situation, but I'm afraid that a strike on Oured would only toughen their resolve. It's bad enough that we're a bit outnumbered; we don't need to bring any more in than we need to. And besides, we'd have to move up the chain for that kind of an alpha strike."

"Actually, it was Col. Galland's idea. I talked to him about the situation and he actually suggested it. I agreed with it, though he said you'd probably be a little more prudent about it."

"While it is an ambitious plan, it probably won't have the results you're predicting."

"Well...what if I told that Geist and Grau have already begun deliberating about such a strike. It wasn't necessarily on Oured, but some other city deep in Osea."

"What? Why...oh I see what you're doing. You knew I wouldn't let those F-22 using showboats steal all the glory."

Sienna knew me enough to know that I wouldn't let an opportunity to one up Geist slip by.

"Alright. How far is Oured from here...about what, a thousand miles?"  
"Try...2,800 miles."

There was a long pause from me.

"Holy crap...that _is_ a long way. Well, at least we'll have all the refuelers we need. We can stay at low altitude and penetrate their hopefully weak defenses."

"It's not that simple. The easiest part is crossing the bay. Most of the Osean third fleet was docked there on port liberty, if I remember right. We did not destroy all of them. From what I've been able to determine, it seems that there are two more carriers there, but they are moving to engage our forces in Ustio. Now the refuelers. They're all tied up in the center. We don't have the range to make it to Oured and all the way back obviously."

There was a silence between us.

"So what do we do?" I said.

"Well, I'll get some coffee and get your thinking cap on buddy. I'll get the others."

For the next twelve hours, we deliberated non-stop in secret. We went over every aspect of the Mig-29 and saw what we could strip to increase our range and hopefully have enough to make it all the way to the city, have sufficient fuel for fighting, and the fuel to make it back. The big problem was the Mig was more fuel conserving at higher levels(if you Mig experts think I'm wrong then by all means tell me) but we'd be certainly detected on radar.

After a few arguments, we decided on a strategy. Afterwards, we called everyone in and they all agreed on the initial plan.

We'd fly from this base and would have to refuel three times over our captured territory. We'd then decend to fifty feet above the surface of Oured Bay and fly low and slow to the target. But there was on additional problem...what would we hit?

"So what are we striking? I'm not dropping a bomb down some poor guy's smokestack and killing his family. He could be a ofremde too." asked Max.

A ofremde was slang for Osean-Belkan, or a Belkan living in Osea.

"The problem is that we don't have a whole lot of recon planes for this task. Most of them are actually busy with current fighting. Now, I do have an updated map thanks to Rafe. We have three possible targets. First is the Dyne Drive Company that makes jet engines. The second is Oured Power Station. The third is the Oured Captial Air Base." Sienna said.

"Why don't we just drop a 2000 pound bomb on those at Bright Hill? They were the ones that screwed us over. It's high time for some payback." said Sayla.

"It's not so simple. Osea's government is more decentralized, which in my opinion was a pretty smart thing to do in this age." Sienna said.

"I say we hit the power plant. It'll be just like that strike we did in '88 with all of us moving to different points on the compass. " Rafe said.

"That's what the most plausible target. Not only that, it shortens our range. If we hit the airfield we'd have to refuel three times instead of two." Sienna replied.

"Okay, since everyone's on the plan, let's make sure that we all understand what the implications are. Now if we fail..."

"We die or end up in a POW camp or something...we know, let's just do this before the other squadrons steal our glory." Santiago said.

"We are going to go down in history. Oured hasn't been attacked in almost 200 years! Their faces are going to be red after this one."

"Okay, I'm going to check with the Colonel about this. The date's April 16th. The weather's supposed to be terrible that day. They won't even know what hit them."

And with that, we adjourned. It was an incredibly complex plan with no margin for error. There were some kinks in the plan that needed to be worked out. After all this was an operation that had to succeed; not for revenge, not for strategic or tactical aims, but morale, pride and bragging rights. We were going to go down in history for being responsible for one the three most audacious acts of the Belkan War. But as in all battles, chaos reigned in the realm of war...

_**No Better Plan**_

We agreed to carry air to ground missiles for the strike. The problem was lack of range for a sufficiently accurate lock on. We could compensate for that though since they relatively big and we could dummy fire them with ease if we had too. Another reason we chose the missiles was that we could manually guide them in a window and hit the interior with great accuracy. The power plant was a highly advanced thermal energy plant with many generators linking the area to the city. Our targets were the series of substations connecting the plant to the city. The plan seemed more and more possible as we discovered that if we took certain unneeded parts off the airplane, we could lighten it and extend our range even further. The air to ground missiles was much heavier than the air to air missiles obviously, so the striking group would not carry anything else except the missiles that would hit the plant. Everyone else would stand guard for enemy planes.

We would ride the jet stream to the coast and reduce our altitude; we could conserve fuel even more with this method. Rafe even told us about a trick he used to extend the range of his Mig-31 when he was part of Schwarze squadron. It was a couple of metal and super-heat resistant materials put into a certain area of the engine. This would reduce the amount of fuel that would be used in case we had to use the afterburner and it would reduce our IR signature; "the called it a poor man's supercruise".

If we were lucky and flawless, we could do the entire round trip in three refuelings. (I am stretching this a bit, this is a fantasy game after all )

At 1700 hrs we all drank a round of brandy to toast to our upcoming victory and soon we were off. We chose to fly at 0100 hrs on April 16th for three reasons. First, it was a Sunday. There wouldn't be as much personnel there. Second, by the time we turned to attack the plant we would have the sun at our backs. Finally, most of Osea's airpower was tied up in Ustio and our areas. In the end, there was no better plan.

The suggested techniques for relieving boredom on long flights are: singing, telling humorous stories, discussing in detail what one wishes to do to their wife/girlfriend/husband/boyfriend upon returning home, making up stories, describing scenery, mid-air refueling and further singing.

We did this for nearly six hours. We even had a minor scare when several enemy fighters appeared on the edge of our radar. Luckily, Grau(gray) squadron intercepted them. We knew this since by that time it was 0600 and we were passing over their territory. Up until then, we had never met the members of Grau Squadron. We rode the jet streams to the bay and descended nose down to sea level. We went into total radio silence.

It was a critical time. We had just refueled and now needed to cross the gap to Oured's power station. We were in luck; the power station was actually on an island just off the coast. The substation buildings were easily identified from the satellite imagery. The shooters were Max, Freya, Sayla, and Rafe; the strikers were me, Sienna and Santiago. I pushed slightly ahead of the group. For nearly thirty minutes, we slowly flew over the bay hoping we were not discovered. At the thirty minute mark, Max and I gave each other the thumbs up. We had not been detected; no planes or ships caught us out. It was music to my ears. I signaled to Max for his group to break off as I caught sight of the plant. I accelerated to half of my maximum speed and climbed to 4,000 feet with the others in tow. We then slowed and prepared to launch the strike missiles.

We closed in on the plant and we acquired locks on the tall buildings. I opened the radio channel again and began the countdown.

"Three...two...one...now!" I said.

The missiles flew toward the target and we quickly broke off. All six of our missiles hit every intended target. There was no flak and no enemy interference. We'd knocked out power to seventy percent of Oured.

"Woooo, yeah!"

"Alright, let's get out of here."

"We're going to be heroes after this one."

We turned and went back the same way we came. I could only imagine what the average person living in Oured must have been thinking at that time. For all its excitement, it was rather anticlimactic. We came in, destroyed the target and did not have to fight our way out...or so we thought.

(okay TornadoADV, here's your big moment!)

The Relentless One

About thirty minutes into our flight, we made it back to the coast where a refueler was waiting on us.

"Man, you guys must have really stirred up a hornet's nest. We were listening to an Osean radio channel not too long ago. They were going nuts. They still don't know what hit them." the guy manning the refueling probe said.

"We were talking to the registered voters of Osea." I said while laughing.

I was always the last to air refuel. I don't remember why I decided that. It seemed proper after all. I was concerned about my wingmen.

"You're gonna a medal for this one you crazy..." In a sudden, bizarre turn of events, the Stratotanker exploded right in front of me throwing my airplane severely off balance. I recovered from my forced dive and pulled up.

"What the heck was that?! Where the shot come from?" I asked.

"This is Raven Nest, we've got a pair of Osean fighters incoming at Mach 1 at vector 180. This group is acting strange...they're coming in a single-file line."

We all turned to face the enemy planes, and suddenly we saw them. The pair was indeed moving in a line; but suddenly, the two fighters became four! They were masking their appearance to the AWACS by using their onboard jammers. I tried to listen in only to a partially garbled transmission.

"It's them. That one...that...Widowmaker. Just like we were told in the briefing."

"Stay sharp. These guys are Round Table...don't underestimate..."

"How the did they know that?! All right, change of plans. Let's deal with these nosey fighters!" I said.

"God, you sound like the Vulture right now." said Sayla said, obviously annoyed.

The fighters began rapidly banking into each other and separating. When we came to a merge, they matched the description of one of the fighters Sienna told me about.

Two planes: Two F-15Cs. Colored in a bright Silver color. In league with black/red F-15 squadron.

The general tactic was to separate them and engage them two or three on one. The lead plane wasn't having any of that. As Max and I chased him, he put on the full afterburner and shook off one of his radar missiles only to turn back into us and fire off two radar missiles of his own. Suddenly, from behind came another plane firing two missiles of its own. We deployed chaff and quickly took stock of our situation. We only had two missiles and our cannons. We had a full load of fuel, but it was being expended in the fight. However, I also knew that the F-15 couldn't go full speed for very long either. This squadron had temporarily taken command of the battle. But that was about to change.

I turned downward to avoid gunfire from the F-15 on my tail. Suddenly, I saw Sayla and Freya under attack by two of the enemy planes. Undaunted, they rapidly split apart at full speed each taking an enemy fighter with him. Then suddenly, the other plane(I found out later it was Sayla) quickly turned back into the rear of the other fighter and fired a missile at it. The missile went through the center of the F-15s engine and it exploded. All of this happened in a mere fifteen seconds. I could hear Sayla's grunting sounds of fighting with the airplane, trying to maintain control under immense G-forces.

All the while, I was trying to shake off the enemy bandit. However, he suddenly broke off...after Sayla.

"Man, these guys don't like me at all!"

Sayla had covered Freya so she could move in. However, the enemy pilot continued to shake her off. Freya would separate him from Sayla, but he'd turn back violently into her. How he kept singling her out was rather simple. Sayla had a large unique decal on her fighter...a giant spade symbol off of a playing card on her left wing. He would not keep off her. In a way I could understand...but he had no idea that Freya and I were on him...but he still kept going after her. We couldn't catch him.(and apparently his flight lead couldn't either) Suddenly, several missiles flew by and the enemies retreated.

"Where that come from?" I said.

Suddenly, several planes came into view...but they were our planes! They were gray with yellow strips all over it. They almost looked like lightning bolts. They were a quartet of F-16s.

"This is Captain Hesse, Donner(Thunder) Squadron. We've been sent to bring you in."

"Hesse?! Holy crap! I thought you were dead!" I said.

Hesse was the respected officer from Verusa, once believed dead but now back alive and commanding his own ace unit. He led us to the nearest airfield to shuttle back to Hierlark. We were suddenly legends now. Everyone talked about us from Rutherford to Koingsburg to Munich to Obersalzburg. Despite all the accolades, only one thing was on my mind: that enemy squadron. How did they know about us? How did they know exactly where to strike? Why wouldn't that enemy pilot have continued going after me when he had me right where he wanted? My paranoia came into play...if what was happening was a result of leaks to Osea...heads were going to roll.

Next Chapter: The Battle of Hieirlark


	13. Battle of Hierlark

Chapter 12: The Battle of Hieirlark

_"I heard about what happened! That was incredible; everyone is talking about you the great Johannes who struck at the heart of the enemy! Everyone's sending me gifts; they all seem to worship you. And here I thought being alone would be a difficult job. Everyone is making me feel like I'm a part of them."_

Aki's words were extremely comforting. But things were about to take a hard turn. By April 21st, it was apparent that the balance of power was beginning to shift into Osea's favor. The southern front continued to collapse threatening the center. The Oseans now acted exactly as we wished, to attack us in the mountains. The problem was that full might of the Osean hammer was beginning to be felt. However, most of us felt that if we could break the hammer before it struck the anvil things could have turned around. The center defensive line was forced to pull back to the Gothic Line, a series of prepared defenses around the Great Lakes. All the paratroopers and 10th Mountain Soldiers jammed the roads with vehicles and began setting up defensive positions in the mountains around Hieirlark. The mood was tense, even amongst the civilian population who more than tolerated our presence. There were no waving flags, but at least there an unwavering (in most cases) support from them. The inevitable battle of Hieirlark would set into motion a series of brutal, bitter battles on the ground and in the air. It was already apparent to any pilot or infantry soldier on either side that the battle of Hieirlark would be a fight to the bitter end.

Rogue's Gallery

The intelligence staff, for the most part, had fallen out of favor with me. Sienna wasted no time in throwing Rube "under the bus" for his lack of progress. However, in some ways she was being forced to. She didn't want to throw the book at him, but Command demanded an explanation as to the near-fiasco with the silver planes as well as other incidents. It wasn't really fair that Sienna was doing this to him; after all he was doing his job the best he could. But the large amount of information that Sienna could find gave her the weight she needed to convince Col. Galland that the intelligence staff we were given was incompetent. Then rumors began to spread that someone in the staff was slipping secrets to the enemy. A possible rat in the ranks was an intolerable thought. This led Col. Galland to replace the entire staff and place key members under surveillance just in case they were traitors.

The new intelligence chief was a Major Richthofen. He had been transferred in and personally recommended by our old CO, Major Vanderbeek. We all met in secret in the war room on April 21st to discuss these Osean aces. What we little we found was significant breakthrough. Major Richthofen was also an ace and a veteran of the 1987 war, the Round Table, and some current battles. He also once was a part of the 18th Air Division, or the Gault Squadron. Afterwards we presented our findings to the rest of our squadron.

"Now judging from what we know now about these aces and some brilliant intelligence work by our new staff, we've compiled a dossier of what we've confirmed. One is a four plane squadron of silver F-15s. They prefer to engage in pairs although one pilot is very aggressive in single dogfights. Their squadron name is Longsword." said Sienna.

"The next group we know about is a squadron of F-14D and several other different kinds of aircraft. They are painted in a purple color and are called the Dragon Squadron. Now here's the kicker. Their squadron leader goes by the moniker, Violet Dragon. We did some research, and it turned out that he was in fact a member of Indigo Squadron. His name is Donovan Lovecraft, age 30. He spent 10 years in the Luftwaffe as both an enlisted and as a pilot. He left Indigo in 1992. Apparently, he was dissatisfied with the new party and jumped ship. He's been sighted at the Round Table and actually got into a battle with old mentor. The fight was a draw for all intents and purposes. We think that he may actually be a Osean Mercenary of some sorts. Frankly if you ask me they're both cowards under a false idea of honor. They act as if that "knights of the sky" nonsense still exists. That's all we know about him." Major Richthofen said in contempt.

"Osean Mercenaries? Why would Osea need them?" asked Max.

"He's not the only one. Lovecraft can't really be considered a current traitor since he had finished his second five-year contract(not a mercenary contract though) with in the Luftwaffe before he left the country. The only other true defector we know of is a man named Ulrich Grimm. He's the leader of the Berkut unit we ran into. Apparently, he shook off several squadrons, Including Schwarze and made it to Sapin just after the war started. He's been attacking across the border. Galland has given us orders from the top; we're to terminate him on sight."

"Are Grimm and Lovecraft working together?" asked Rafe.

"As far as we can tell, no; we only confirmed this other information because they have prior records in our files." I said.

"Those guys nearly smoked me. This Grimm's no slouch at air combat." Santiago said.

"Now, where does all this lead? Apparently, all these aces are part of something called Task Force November. We don't know who leads it yet. We think that this mysterious "Crescent" Squadron leads it. We know that the squadron is a combined Naval and Air Force operation. The problem is that it lacks cohesion. There are rumors that certain members don't like others. They hardly work well together. Osea has a lot of inter-service rivalry. We know this. The Navy seems to be getting its way. After all, some elements of this force may be from the defeat at Cressers Island two weeks ago. The attack on Osea, while daring and heroic, has only stiffened their resolve." Major Richthofen said.

The obvious bad news was that this "Task Force November" was no doubt going to be gunning for us in the coming battle. We pulled most available squadrons, including most of the ace squads, to defend this strategic zone. We still had no idea how the enemy knew about our secret nicknames or how they conveniently showed up when we were returning to base. However, as we deliberated, the Oseans were already massing for the attack. The first major set-piece air and ground battle of the war was about to begin...

_**Fauna and Geist...Round III**_

The more we learned about Task Force November, the more we excited we became. On the 22nd, the Wing held a general meeting of all the ace squadrons on the area (Fauna, Grau, Blau, Geist, and Donner). Everyone had their own strategies for combat, but given this new information everyone was going to have to slightly change tactics. We heard the Oseans were preparing to launch a major assault on the city. The funny thing was that we had no troops in the city. Everyone was in the hills surrounding the town as it served as a natural defensive wall. If the Oseans were going to take the town they would have to run the gauntlet of anti-air artillery, barbed wire, land mines, IEDs(improvised explosive devices), and one paratrooper battalion even set up a series of spike pits. Arrayed against us was the entire Osean VII Corps. The one we most feared was the 15th Air Assault Division who could use their helicopter to outflank the weak areas in our lines. One of the infantry commanders, a Colonel Herdyte, came to us with a simple request: to weaken the Osean Airborne by at least 50 percent. But this was no request; it was an indirect order. After all, the paratroops were part of the Luftwaffe and in reality everything in war was subordinate to the infantry leaders. Otherwise no one would do CAS(close air support). We would fire the opening shots of the war. However, much to our chagrin, he'd also asked Geist to come with us. Now we'd have to cooperate with our old rivals from the Round Table and Versua. However, the rivalry wasn't as before.

"Man, I can't believe we have to work with those show-offs!"

"You want to know something interesting about Dora?" Freya asked me.

She explained to me that Major Dora was actually of a bloodline of old Belkan royalty and was used to getting things his way. In fact, Sayla nearly kicked him out of the original Schwarze squadron for his fussy attitude and would have had Freya had not intervened. She actually believed Dora would become something more. She was trying to mold him into a carbon copy of her. "But he never changed." she concluded, "When he got involved with Zubov and Jessonseck, he was never the same again. So I washed my hands of him. Three weeks before we were disbanded, I went on ahead and kicked him out. He was very angry with me. How he got a flight of his own I have no idea."

We had a good idea of where the 15th Airborne was based. However, that was not the point. Something else would intervene.

"Where are they?" Max said.

"They're always fashionably late." said Freya.

"Fashionably late is better than not showing up at all." a familiar voice over the radio said.

Suddenly, the three black planes appeared once again.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in."

"Look, I'm not here to argue, just do your god job and shut up for once."

"My, my my, how upset we are today." Dora said.

"Oh, shut it Jacques. Pretentiousness is the only thing you're good at."

"That's enough, both of you. Let's get this done."

"Geist Three here...I've picked up something on the enemy's radio net. Listen to this."

_This is Dragon One. I've got some hits on my radar. First bad guys we've seen in this area in a few days. They're probably saving their best for last._

This is Mammon One. We'll take the lead formation.

Hold on...we don't know what's out there. Remember last time?

Look mercenary, why are you so concerned? Afraid you'll kill your cousins out there?

If I actually cared about your comments Death Angel...I'd have backed off by now.

I'm going to make myself clear. I don't trust you, nor does Col. Underhill. If you try anything out of the way...

Or you'll do what? Kill me? Just try. Keep in mind I've been around longer than you. I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with your hypocrisy. Hold on...we've got enemy incoming! 12:00.

We were right. There was no coordination between them. They seemed to be more distrusting of each other than even we were with Geist.

"Task Force members dead ahead." I said.

"Deal with them now!" Geist leader said.

And with that, we dropped our argument to deal with the enemy. What happened next was a confusing battle. Geist charged at the other group. If their planes were not stealthy, this would have been an unwise tactic. We raised altitude to drop down on the enemy. Suddenly, the red and black planes were in view. We then knew what the squadron was called. Mammon, the devil of avarice (I may be wrong on this though). Obviously, Mammon and Geist had something in common.

As we split off to engage the enemy, I could clearly make out a pair of planes with alternating paint schemes. They both had the same emblem on it, but they were painted slightly different; it was just like the report. **The lead plane has a black body with a single red wing on the left and the wingman has a red body single black wing one it.**

"He's got a single black wing. I've heard of this pilot. They say he's one of the best pilots in Osea."

"We'll find out if he really is." Sienna said.

_**The Death Angel and Violet Dragon**_

The two planes moved up and we climbed to meet them. Suddenly, they split apart and turned downwards at full speed. Not being foolish enough to fall for such a trick, we did the exact same thing but stayed together. We came down on them and they turned hard to the left realizing their coup was in ruin. Their moves were almost fluid as they turned and separated as a single entity. There were only a few pilots that could do such an intricate series of moves: these two, Gelb Squadron, and Sayla and Freya. However, I decided that this was simply for show. It was time to end the charade.

I fired a radar missile at the lead plane. Wisely he dropped chaff and the two planes turned left and suddenly broke right...then climbed and looped back into us. However, Sienna and I simply slowed and released flares, diving doing our own loop and coming back behind the enemy. Suddenly, the enemy did the exact same thing. But we climbed and came back behind them again. It was a rare advantage to our plane. Our quicker thrust maneuver had allowed us to regain the advantage. At this point I had no idea how the other planes were doing. That is until I focused on the radio more. Dragon was actually giving Geist a hard time. They had yet to shoot down one of them. This Violet Dragon was indeed no slouch at air to air combat.

They turned again at full speed. However, we climbed...into the sun. We came back down with the sun at our backs...but suddenly, we had two missiles being fired at us! We deployed our next to last chaff pod and broke off. They had deceived us! Instead of us coming of the sun...they came out of the sun behind us! We looped back behind them and accelerated closely to them firing our cannons like mad. I scored a direct hit on one of the fighters, but it wasn't enough to destroy it. Sienna scored hits on both of them, forcing them to retire. Suddenly, all of the black planes retired. It was just like the Speed Demon at the Round Table; it was a cowardly retreat. The rest of their planes were still in the air. However, this Violet Dragon...was a different story. He was still shaking off the most advanced planes in the Belkan arsenal. We couldn't believe it.

"This guy _is_ good." Max said.

"Don't get so quick to admit that." Geist leader said.

"Then how does this guy keep managing to keep shaking us off!" Max said back.

None of us could touch him. It wasn't until we merged with him why. The intelligence about them was wrong. Lovecraft's F-14D was a very fast plane. The other F-4 model was much faster than we expected. There were a mixture of enemy planes including Hornets and Drakens. Finally, both sides retired due to lack of fuel. However, Dora had suffered a major blow to his pride. He'd actually been damaged. We secretly laughed at this; however, the obvious was clear. The Oseans were finally playing hardball.

Before we could regroup for another assault, the Oseans began attacking the western defense line. The assault actually occurred during our aerial skirmish, indicating that the battle was merely a diversion for the ground assault. They pounded the line with bombs dropped from super-fast B-1b Lancers. By the time we scrambled once again, they were gone. Both sides were hesitant to drop bombs on their own troops, so fighting over the mountain was limited. The major source of our resistance was at a place we called Albright Hill near the canyon that ran next to the city. Our artillery could put fire down on anything that moved in that area. The Oseans were a bit tired of the incessant barrages and decided to put an end to our stronghold.  
_**The Betrayer**_

The Oseans refer to large hills in meters, thus the name Hill 450. They called it the battle of Hill 450. It was just another skirmish for us. Like most armies, they foolishly decided to attack the hill head on with little progress. The artillery put their tanks out of action and most were caught behind the briar patch of barbed wire and land mines that were put there to slow them down. Every night, a friendly C-130 squadron would drop more artillery rounds and supplies onto the hill. On the 24th, the Oseans decided to bomb the hill into surrender. We launched to prevent this and interdict their reinforcing units. It was a battle of who could provide the best close air support.

We took off the morning of the 24th in hope of intercepting several of the bombers. Blau squadron was on our left; the attrition of the unit had left Manel in charge of them. However, there was one plane with us; it was a bit out of place. Instead of Blau squadrons light blue planes, there was a single orange colored J-35J Draken.

"Fauna One to Blau Five...who's this?"

"Oh this guy..."

"You know I can introduce myself buddy."

"Okay..."

"Lietuenant Kip Kurron, callsign Sonne Seven. You can call me Katze(cat) sir."

"Katze? What squadron are you from?" I asked.

He explained he'd been a part of Sonne(sun) squadron, but had a run in with the mysterious Scorpion Squadron and they decimated their ranks at long range. He also told me he caught a last name.

"All I know is that the squadron leader's name is a Captain...Harvey or something. The AWACS dialed into their frequency just before I fled the area."

"All right, Max you take the force west. Manel, you take your new friend and follow me."

"Roger. We'll try to come in high on them."

As they split off, Manel closed in on us. This Katze wasn't a slouch at air to air combat as I originally though. There were several  
"Hey Katze? How old are you anyway?"

"Nineteen."

"Your kidding me. And I thought I was a young Captain at twenty-two."

"Actually sir, I thought you were older considering all the things they said about you."

"Really? Well it's good to have a fan. The enemy's calling me the "Sheperd of the Devil."

"Could you tell me about that later...if that's okay sir."

"Sure. Heck I already like you Katze. You got some guts alright."

"Hey Sienna." Manel interrupted, "If this ever ends...they're something I want to..."

"Hold that thought! We got enemy incoming!" Katze said.

"Bombers?"

"No...they must be the interceptors. Stay sharp." I said noticing the speed of the incoming radar intercepts.

The sky was dark and cloudy. The occasional forest fires in the hills only served to further darken the mood and the atmosphere. I could barely make the intercpetors...but there were only four of them.

"Four of them and four of us. Quite uneven if you ask me." Sienna said.

"Don't get so cocky my Gothan comrade." a sharp and sophisicated voice came over the radio.

"What the ?"

Suddenly, a diamond formation of four red colored Su-47 Berkuts appeared right before us. We'd only fought with them once and even then it was only for a few minutes. It was him...the betrayer, Ulrich Grimm.

"So you're the man who made the daring raid on Oured. The Widowmaker. The Demon of Hierlark. You have all the insignificant names in the world to uplift you..given by those who will betray you in a heartbeat." he said.  
"Enough talk traitor. Put up or shut up! Unless you want to run like last time." Sienna said.

"Hah! You're just like the others; ignorant of the truth. Very well...I'll shall enlighten you to it."

All four of the enemy planes swept violently into us firing their radar missiles at us and their guns. All of us broke apart under the intensity of the attack. We turned back behind them but they simply turned back into us. I told everyone to break off and we did so in twos. The enemy planes followed relentlessly. Our high speed maneuvers were not working as the Berkuts could easily follow us into any turn and dive. We were losing the turn fights against them. But suddenly...something extremely bizarre happened.

_**Luck Runs Out**_

We reunited to charge the enemy once again. The enemy appeared right in front of us and flew parallel to us as we turned to meet them.

"They've hidden the truth from you...from all of us. They've gotten you into a war that you cannot possibly wing. And when this war finally turns, they will turn on you with the intent of destroying everything just to keep themselves in power a little longer."

"Liar." I said.

"Oh really. Well then...what if I told you that...wait a minute...what the-"

Suddenly all four of the Berkuts disappeared from radar. The dark sky was lit up with exploding planes.

"That's enough babbling. Belkan scum. Speed Demon to all planes: mission complete, return to...wait a minute...nevermind, change of plans. Let's deal with the Widowmaker and his friends too. Two corpses in the same grave."

"It's him!" Sienna said.

"Who?" asked Manel.

"The Speed Demon!" I said.

Suddenly, eight F-14D raced out of the horizon and with them nearly seventeen other planes raced out from all directions. We were completely surrounded. Among them were a quartet of brown and red Rafales, and the ominous Mammon squadron.  
"This is the end for you. My brothers on the sunken Vigilance send their regards. All planes...finish them off."

At certain times a man must access his luck. It was at this time that our squadron's luck had run out...

However, there was one thing that we had that the Oseans didn't; we an emergency force multiplier...Excalibur. It was time to press the panic button. As the enemy missiles came in force, I pressed it by shouting two words.

"Any callsign on this net! Long Arrow Delta! I repeat Long Arrow Delta! 345 by 234. Fire for effect over!"

"This is Raven Nest; we've transmitted the request to Long Arrow. Fire mission is inbound."

Now there was only one simple task: stay alive.

"Stay close and low. We just need to keep them occupied long enough for the Excailbur to fire." I said.

The missiles that were inbound were nothing short of relentless. There was no time to think about Aki, the fact that the Speed Demon had shot down his own ally, or the fact that the others were tied up with incoming bombers. We had to stay alive. The enemy planes were diving and twisting with us to cut off our escape. But soon that ray of light was incoming; that ray of hope.

"This is Raven Nest, round incoming! Take evasive action."

The key to getting out of the way of the incoming beam was a large shaded area on the radar and knowing where it is exactly. If you screwed up, you were dead.

"Down! Down!" I yelled.

The others followed me as we dove and flew away from the combat zone as that giant beam of light fell from the sky and right on to the enemy planes. Suddenly, as the enemy planes broke up, Max came on the radio.

"We've got several bomber formations coming in from the west and the south. There's just so many!"

"It was all a distraction."  
I couldn't tell the immediate situation of the others; it was hard to discern facts from their own organized, yet still chaotic sitreps. A second blast from Excalibur came in.

"Holy ! That silver fighter's all over me again! What is with this guy? I'm not exactly available! I'm kind of infatuated with someone else...I'm not that attractive!" Sayla shouted, with some chuckling from me. That relentless enemy fighter chasing Sayla all the time was by now completely comical.

"Calm down love. I think you had too much brandy last night. I'll get him off your back." Freya said.

"The enemies are breaking off. Now we got to stop those bombers."

"This is Alpha 12, any call sign on this net! We need support now! We've got bombers inbound! NOW!" one of the ground FAC(forward air controllers) said.

"Too late!" another one on the radio yelled.

Suddenly, I could barely see the unusual looking fighters. They were large trianlges of sorts. It was the weirdest bomber I'd ever seen. And they was dropping their payloads on our troops.

"They're stealth bombers!"

"Shoot those things down now!"

We tried to move in to shoot them down, but more of the enemy fighters were cutting us off. Suddenly, Katze did something out of the blue. He charged right through the pack of fighters screaming like he was mad. He launched several missiles at the enemy bombers and nailed two of them, one of them went square into the fuselage. I downed one of the offending fighters and chased after him. Behind me was a concerned Manel.

"What are you doing?!"

He shot his cannons right into the enemy formation as they turned to leave the battle zone. I turned and saw a third round from Excalibur hit a different area of the sky and the enemy began to break off, unable to cope with such devastating power. Another three bombers were downed by us, with two going to Katze. When the chaotic fracas was over, it was clear that both sides had suffered enormous losses. The Oseans lost seventeen fighter planes and seven bombers. We lost three fighters, but the ground troops suffered nearly a thousand casualties. This effectively cut the 7th Parachute Regiment in half.

Though despite the tactical draw, it was clear that we had managed to stand our ground. And this Katze had proven himself a capable warrior to the point I was simply laughing because of the dark humor of the situation. Here was a plane that was painted in the ugliest color imaginable, yet he'd dealt a stunning blow to the enemy's bomber force.

"What's so funny sir?"

"Nothing...good job though. Man, this is has been crazy. Sayla's new hopeless leech, you screaming like a maniac on a suicide mission, the fact that my wife is having a baby in exactly ten days, and we've still managed to hold the line even amongst this disaster of a battle. I'm just taking it all in." I said.

"So what was it you wanted to ask me Manel." Sienna asked.

Suddenly, one of our planes pulled up next to mine.

"Hold on. Johanne, you never did answer _my_ question." asked Freya.

"That's right. We're still waiting for an answer." said Sayla.

The question. The truth is that despite all the actions I had done, decisions I had to make, and battles I had to fight, I had a simple task to do. I had to decide something that had nothing to do with the war...and ironically, it was taking the most time. The question was, if something happened to me or Aki, could I trust them with my daughter? They had asked me to be godparents. However, the point was that I had been so preoccupied I had little time to consider it. In a snap decision, I would. After all, they were no better role-models. They were perfect because I could trust them with my life as they could with me...and I could trust them with my life, I surely could trust them with little Evey's life. But like all wars, such things are irrelevant. Another battle was waiting...one that would finally seal our fate in Hieirlark.

_**Defeat**_

The attacks continued towards the end of the week. By the 27th it was clear that we could no longer hold the line. Fierce fighting on all sides of the line was causing our ground troops to crumble under the weight of the Osean advance. What was more disturbing was that Osea's old rivals Yuktobania had joined the war and landed troops on the north coast. The center was steadily retreating back to home, so it was not totally in vain. However, ammunition from the constant attacks was running low. It was now a painful battle of attrition...and the allies were winning.  
When we weren't flying, we were discussing the intelligence gathered from our battles. Our enemies had more secrets that we originally thought. Rafe's connection to one of them shocked us.

"So you know him, the man Katze mentioned...this Captain Harvey?"

"I met him once. After I'd lost my eye in 88, I went to Osea for a short time. I was approached by some senior military personnel of their Navy and was asked if I would participate in a program to help train pilots. I agreed. It was there I met this guy. At the time he was only a lieutenant or "LT" as the Oseans would say. Damien Harvey...that was his name. He flew F-14Ds off the Kestrel."

"What was he like? What kind of impression did he make on you?"

"He was a typical Osean naval aviator; arrogant, cocky, and pretentious. But Harvey was something else. I only knew him for a few weeks, but there was something about him that was just...wrong. He was helping me with the trainees in the flying training. He was cold and icy around me. He did tell me some things about his past. Apparently, one of the Task Force members is also one of his old flight leaders. What was his name...ah yes, Derek Snow. I only knew that, because I actually saw his plane yesterday. Unlike Harvey, Snow was a real professional. Their old squadron was nicknamed, 'Black Knights.' That's all I know."

"Hmm...Harvey, Grimm, Lovecraft, Snow, and this...Underhill. I wonder who he is."

"He's probably the boss. He was a colonel, right?" Max asked.

"Underhill...why does that name sound so familiar?" said Freya.

An air raid siren suddenly could be heard. Before we could even react, a large blast could be heard outside. It was so powerful and jarring that everyone was knocked to the floor.

"Move! Go, go, go!"

Another blast rocked the interior of the base. There was only one thing this could mean, I thought. It was do or die time. The enemy had launched a major air effort to crush the two airbases on the outskirts of the city. There was also a major enemy amphibious operation just to the north of us. Airborne troops were just outside the Albright Canyon. We had enemy troops mere a eight hundred yards away! As I ran to the hangars, I saw a bright orange blast to the left of us that consumed an entire row of empty hangars. Above us the sky roared with enemy and friendly planes.  
When we finally took off, we emerged into a cauldron of enemy planes...some of which had a paint design we'd never seen before. These had to be the Yukes, I said. None of us had ever fought the Yukes in combat. It was hard to tell what was really going on.

"This is Colonel Galland at base command. Do everything in your power to keep the enemy out of the city."

"We just got a wire from the Hood Power Plant. The Airborne troops are under attack from seaborne infantry."

"The southern line is under attack! We need support!"

"We've got tanks trying to get into the pass! We've got nothing to stop them!"

Every part of the line was being attacked while we were tied down with enemy fighters.

"All right, we'll deal with these fighters first. It'll free up the other units to deal with the ground problems." I said.

The nominal task was to clear the skies over the city so the strike planes could move in. But the north and the south were being overrun; however, there was little we could do on our end. We only had air to air missiles. The strike planes couldn't take off until we secured the skies over them. The sky was packed with fighters from both sides. The Yuke planes were actually easier to identify. They mostly had Migs of their own, and they were painted much differently than our own. And even with all this, we still could not determine everything that was going on in the chaos of the battle.

"This is Colonel Galland. It seems that we've been ordered to fall back. Too many enemy troops have landed."

"What?! We can't give this city up now!" I said.

"We've got to abandon this place?! You're kidding me! We can still win this!" Max yelled out in desperation.

We were all angry. Why wouldn't we continue to fight? Had our government exchanged a possible reality for delusion? Or was Grimm actually right? Had we been forced in a war we couldn't win?  
"The center has finished its withdrawal. There aren't enough troops to continue to fight the war on this front. We're getting beaten back in the south. We've been ordered to defend the border. We've bought just enough time to prepare a second defense line."

After I slowed down to think in the midst of the chaos, I began to think that Galland was right. We'd started a war on two fronts and were now being beaten back. The center could hold from their position in the Great Lakes region, but we were forced to withdraw back home to the flat and exposed regions of Koingsburg.

The Yukes decided to just pick off the stragglers as we struggled across the border in a chaotic fashion. It was completely shameful and anticlimactic. In the process, we were forced to leave the ground troops behind. They continued to fight on until the last day of April, when the 8th Parachute Division surrendered against the orders of High Command. 7,000 would be left behind. I constantly felt guilty about the humiliating withdrawal. All of us wondered what the command staff thinking.

As I struggled to come to grips with this stunning loss of face, I would quickly find that such embarrassing defeats required a scapegoat. Little did I know that scapegoat would be none other than me...

Next Chapter: Daughter of the Draufgänger


	14. Daughter of the Draufganger

Chapter 13: Daughter of the Draufgänger

By May 1st, it was apparent that we were going to have a tough fight on our hands. We'd been forced back to the border and our old base at Koingsburg. However, our presence was merely a portion of the skeleton force there already. Most of the others had been shot down or sent to other fronts in the constant battles. What remained of Blau and Grau and our squadron was the only thing standing between the coalition and Koingsburg; though Koingsburg served no strategic purpose to us. Given the overwhelming amount of enemy air activity, a straight dogfight was impossible. Many countries were now sending troops to push us out of Osea and into Belka...and take everything that was ours yet again. The enemy could have Hierlark since he was willing to pay the price for it. Despite our embarrassing defeat, the hard-charging Oseans and inexperienced Yuke soldiers suffered a combined three thousand casualties. They'd lost 192 aircraft compared to our seventy. Now we were on home soil and there was no way we were going to give it up.

It was already apparent to any idiot what Osea's real intentions were. They were going to "liberate" us by occupying our land and move a third of their army to secure it. Then they would strip the land dry and move on. One was remember that this was long before all the tragedy that would happen even before June 6th. Yuktobania was little different. The Yukes involvement was somewhat sketchy. They were rivals with Osea for over fifty years. Why would they come to the aid of a Cold War enemy?

However, this was irrelevant. I was now officially the guilty party in the defeat at Hierlark and the one who made the accusation was none other than my own CO.

"What?! They want to court-martial me...for an order they made?! What the heck's going on here!?"

"It's out of my hands now. Politics, how I hate it." he said.

"So this is just a publicity stunt?!" I shouted at him.

"I know this seems of the most bizarre sort Captain. But I have to authorize it first. It has to be a unanimous decision amongst command. I didn't want this to happen...none of us did. But you have to accept the grim reality of things. We're essentially on the low end of things. The possibility of leaks to Osea, confirmed turncoats, the enemy lining up against us...something has to be done about it from their point of view."

"Are you people making up the rules as you go along or something?!"

"They're putting more pressure on us. This Task Force November is partially responsible for our defeats. That and the battle strategy, but I digress. We're losing this war, I hate to say. The party is trying to do everything they can to boost morale. Our defeat here affects what happens in Ustio as well."

"So I'm pretty much screwed then Colonel. I'm a morale-booster."

"Not exactly. We've identified the heads of Task Force November. We've been interrogating your subordinates and from their reports and the reports of the Major we've managed to find the heads of this group."

He told me they were four commanders. The first was a quartet of Silver and black Falcons. They made an appearance for the first time just south of us. They took out seventeen of our fighters; and judging from the fact that the others fell in behind them no doubt indicated their command. The second and third were the two lead planes of the elusive Mammon squadron that we'd fought against twice already. It was also learned that it may have been more times since he sometimes changed squadrons to elude suspicion. The fourth was the infamous Speed Demon, Damien Harvey. It amounted to me shooting them down. If I could, or at least take one of them out, I'd be off the hook. If not, I'd probably be made an example of.

It was no secret that "court-marital" was a euphemism for possible prison time...or execution. He told me this himself. There was no doubt that this would happen, but it wasn't like Galland would willingly do it. Still, I was a tad offended that my most respected senior officer had the power to throw me under the bus for something that wasn't even my fault. Now I knew how Sayla felt long ago when Fauna nothing but an idea.

I only had 96 hours to find and kill the leaders...and time was against me. If I was punished, there was no doubt that I'd never see my daughter when I was still free...or possibly alive. She was due in three days and I had four to find the enemy's command. It was now a race against time...

_**Mission Impossible...or Mission Improbable?**_

The squadron was now under a magnifying glass. I was only five miles from my wife and I couldn't even touch her. Every move we made was checked on my military personnel. Everyone, even Manel, Katze, and even Aki to a certain extent could have been victims of this scapegoat campaign. To make it easier, we convinced Grau to merge with Blau, and Manel and Katze to join our squadron as reserves. That would make it 14 planes for the search. Meanwhile to our rear, the army was setting up defensive positions on the high ground around Obersalzburg. Any invasion route from our sector had to come through there. The mountains surrounding Gotha were impassible by road, so the flatter portion of Obersalzburg would serve as the first major battleground. Meanwhile, we discussed what needed to be done.  
"Well obviously they're gunning for us. So we need to stir up a hornet's nest and lure them out into the open."

"How so?"

"Well...I do have an idea. But it's gonna take all of us to do it."

"Let me just say that I think this whole thing is completely "fubar", as the Oseans would say. Who are they to punish us for their screw-up?!"

"They're just that..._they_. I was thinking this could be a mere scare tactic to get results."

"New means of motivation, huh? So what's the operative motto, 'beatings will continue until morale improves?' Is that what they're getting at?" said Sayla.

"Maybe they expected more from us." said Rafe.

"We gave them everything we had! Any more and we'd be crashing our own planes into the enemy. Once this mess is over, if it ends...we fight for ourselves." I said.

"Amen to that. So what's your plan?" said Rafe.

My plan was simple. We needed to cause some trouble and get the Osean hyped. Down would come the Task Force and they would be shot down in our ambush. The only question was...where to strike? That question was answered when Sienna pulled a rather shady source of information about the location of the enemy's B-52 bombers. They had placed a squadron of them dangerously close to our lines near a town called Northshire. She said she got the information when the third plane in the Geist Squadron had done a recon flight over the area and threatened to tell command about a certain embarrassing incident she somehow knew about when he refused to give up the seemingly confidential information. The B-52 bomber was the most important tactical bomber in the Osean arsenal. What was more...they were defenseless without air cover. If we took the fight to them, surely our rivals would have come out of the wood work.

_**A Change of Heart**_

It was May 3, 1995. It was 1400 hrs, the sky was foggy, and so was our future. Our attempt to retake the lands we once had before had ground to a halt and we were now going in complete reverse. The world seemed to turn against us and in some cases even our own turned. They simply could not believe what had happened. It was the only thing that managed to shake them out of their lazy, television dominated lives and jolt them into action. Now we were going to give them a reason to be afraid of us once again.

"All right. We have to make sure they see us. Now remeber, don't shoot all of them down. We need to damage one and destroy the others so they can say this was the work of the Widowmaker."

"All right, intelligence says a group of B-52s are doing deep interdiction missions in this area."

We flew in a neat formation in our Mig-29s. I led the group over contested territory we were fighting to hold. I suddenly looked around for the enemy bombers; and during this, I suddenly thought back to where we had come from and where we were going. Despite all that had happened...we were still together. We still were alive.

We were at treetop level and hiding below the radar. The environment was that of hills, forests, and rolling plains. I looked over at Sienna's plane and see the twenty kill markings on her plane. Her eyes and ears were sharp with great attention to detail. She was the brains of the squadron. I looked to Max's plane and see his eighteen. There was also gutsy little Santiago with his seventeen. Then I remember my own, magic number twenty-four. I looked and saw the older veterans who we'd recruited over the course of our squadron's existence. There was the rebellious, but lovable Sayla Hartmann and her thirty-seven kills and her inseparable wingman Freya Lanne with her forty. Then there was the one-eyed Rafe Rudel with his thirty.

However, as we approached the battle zone, I was getting far more radar intercepts than I expected. Suddenly, I realize what had happened. We had been duped. Before that even happened, our radars went dead and the sky suddenly filled with fighters. We hunters became the hunted; we had sought to ambush the enemy only to fall into their trap! There were no less than twenty-five enemy planes against our fourteen; the rest of the were spread out over the sky.

"What the..." Santiago started.

"They tricked us! Well, no sense running now. If it's a fight they want, then at least we should give them our best." I say.

So we jumped upwards to the fight. The enemy had played it's hand well. They had several F-15s and several F-16s in their group. Strict discipline kept us together in the fight we dived into the enemy. That Osean ace was back for a third deadly dance in the sky. The one I faced off against so many times when we as a squadron encountered him. He led the ambush. I heard his voice. I knew it. I knew of what he spoke. That ace was a wily veteran, though he didn't seem older than maybe thirty-three or so. He spoke with a lisp of sorts, as I had heard him before. Our allies had joined us and the fight was now joined. We chased each other all over the sky. We were so obsessed with killing each other. I had to kill him to keep myself and my career in one piece. I had to kill him so my wife wouldn't be a widow. I had to kill him so my child would have a father to tell her all the unbelievable stories I had.

We both kept getting away from the other. But now, it was do or die. We fought to a stalemate. His craft was trailing smoke, and mine was as well. To continue would have possibly meant both our deaths. The others were screaming, turning and twisting to avoid the enemy planes.

But I had grown to respect the man in such a short amount of time. I had suddenly re-evaluated my feelings on war. But all I did for him was making him angrier and angrier. I felt a sort of sympathy for him. Something had finally twisted in me. I had become nothing more than a killer. And to think I was becoming the very personification of evil to keep them safe. What had I become? But despite that, I had finally had what I wanted: a real challenge. I did the unthinkable. I made a deal with him. He'd go his way...I'd go mine.

"Listen, whoever you are. I have a proposal. We both go our separate ways and we fight another day. We're both a bit damaged here." I said.

"How dare you have the audacity to ask that!?" he asked.

"I'm serious. It seems we are at a bit of an impasse."

"Why do you care what happens to me?" he says in a harsh tone.

"Because you are like me. You live for this. We might even survive this. I am just an instrument...just like you. It took me a year to see that."

"Go to hell Belkan scum. You take down many of my squad mates, guys who had families, and you dare change your mind. Are you insane?" he said.

"Yes...I am insane! But it is it any different on the other side? I have a family too! I fight for respect, my own people, and the people I care about. But I also live to remove the enemy from the skies...the same as you! We both could have stayed at home. But we both chose to be here, right? So what is your answer?" I asked tentatively.

"Here's my answer!" he yelled with poison dripping from his very voice.

But several AMRAAMs were his answer; they were arrows of death moving towards me. The world slowed...and I dodged them. They fired where I was and they miss. I fired my own reliable radar-seeking missile...and I did not miss. The man was in his death throes. I cursed at him for being stupid. I was a proud warrior, but even I knew when to withdraw. I gave him his chance and he threw it in my face. No, he did more...he spat in my face. But, I'll never forget his last words though.

"Kei, Reiko. I'm sorry. I failed you." He said as he plummeted to the ground in flames.

The enemy suddenly withdrew...distraught and confused. My mind had closed suddenly. He was only another kill marking on my plane. That man only became a number. I remembered that somewhere a fellow pilot was saying the same thing. If he had killed me, I would be a number to him. What difference would it make? I turn back to the others and I receive a sort of adulation from them. We retired from the fight and returned our base. It wouldn't change the way I thought now. I'd accepted the fact that I had lost my mind and forgotten what is I believed in. I was no longer the man that was the "prodigy of war". I was now just a regular soldier that only cared about Belka...not about battle. It was just as well...for my homeland would face a great disaster even before the words "nuclear weapons" were mentioned.

"This is Raven Nest, we've confirmed the kill on one of the enemy command planes. Mission complete."

"Looks like we're off the hook." Said Sienna.

"That was a tough one. You really told them whose boss, buddy…hold on. We've got more planes coming in!" said Max.

"Who...oh...it's Donner. No worries." I said.

"Hey! You got the SOB...good job. Hey, I've got some news for you." said Hesse as his planes came into view.

"What, I'm getting a medal for this?"

"No! Your wife just had the baby! Congratulations...Dad."

I was silent for some time. Who were they? Who was the wife? Who was the daughter? And here I was a brand new father of a little girl...having killed a father of a little girl.

"Aww...how sweet. We've got to go pay her a visit." Freya said, "But I get to hold her after Johannes. You promised me."  
"All right. All right." I said.

"Come on, let's go!" said Santiago.

Suddenly, everyone began rocketing off except for me overcome with emotion. My plane was still damaged.

"Wait a minute! We've got enemy aircraft on radar!" Raven Nest said.

Suddenly, a plane ripped past me. I had wondered who this Reiko was. I was about to find out…

_**Reiko Nagase**_

I looked in front of me and saw my enemy. It was the second wickedly colored plane from the mysterious Mammon Squadron, and it had come for revenge.

"Look out!"

Suddenly, the F-15 continued to circle around me if the pilot was taunting me. Why didn't she shoot me down when she had the chance? I decided to stop waiting around and get out of there while I could. But she swept in front of me cutting me off.

Suddenly, the others' radio chatter started to fade out. On the other end was the voice of flaming anger; a voice of ominous hate and evil.

"You're going to pay for what you did to him. I'm going to send you straight to Abyss!"

"Let me guess...you're Reiko...right? Finally a name to my enemy." I said, unusually cocky.

"And you must be Johannes Dietrich...the Widowmaker, the daredevil, the serpent of the underworld. The man everyone fears."

"I take it you're not afraid of me."

"Fear is irrelevant. Only that what matters most counts...your imminent end."

"Why do you people have to talk in melodrama? I've had enough of your drivel." I said.

"Now I'll finish what he started." she responded,  
"That's enough Nagase. You fight him, you run out of fuel and you're a prisoner. Use your head for once." a familiar voice said.

Suddenly the rest of ourplanes showed up and Nagase wisely withdrew. In the distance, the blindingly violet planes of Dragon Squadron came into view for only a fleeting moment, then turned away, Nagase in tow.

"Reiko Nagase. Interesting name." I said.

"Yo buddy, you all right? You're wing's kinda smoking there." Santiago said, "Don't worry I'll cover you. We don't want to lose you when your daughter's like what...two hours old."

"Yeah...wait...listen to this..."

I listened to the last of their communications as we flew away.

"You're right. But that doesn't give you the right to interfere, mercenary."

"I have a name you know. And I told you to stop calling me a mercenary. A mercenary implies someone who lacks class and style."

"He killed him! He took him away from me and my child...and he's not getting away with it!!!"

"Mary! Stop!"

"Don't get in my way!"

"Holy crap! Fauna One she's coming back!"

"Turn around! Now!"

The other planes immediately performed a 180 and returned back to my position. I suddenly remembered I was out of countermeasures. For the first time, my survival truly depended on the skills of the others. The others began forming a line to shoot down Nagase, but she came in and fired all of her missiles at me and quickly broke and sped off. I accelerated, trying not to put too much stress on the plane. The others deployed their countermeasures...but one missile continued to track me.  
"Sidewinder inbound! It's a 9X!" Sienna shouted.

The AIM-9X Sidewinder missile. Only the AA-11 Archer surpassed it; and it was the AIM-9X Sidwinder that was tracking me down. The question was, "What do do?" Punch out? The plane was already heavily damaged; it wouldn't be a total loss and planes were always replaceable. I couldn't shake it off and I had no flares left. But just as I turned the airplane I saw a fleeting image of one of our planes.

"Four! What are doing?!" Sienna asked.

"I got your back buddy!"

"I thought you were out of...wait a minute...No! NO! Don't do it!!" shouted Max.

Suddenly, I broke left and saw only a brief image of Santiago's plane...being hit almost head on by the Sidewinder. The fiery, although somewhat intact, remains of his plane began to fall.

"Nightingale! Three!? Three?! Get out there!" I shouted.

"...I'm fine. I can't get out ya know...stupid jammed eject handle. Hey buddy...you go raise the hell out of that little girl. So long Belka...it's been fun." he said with the obvious hint of sadness.

"Three!!"

And that was that. The flaming Mig-29 that contained what was once Santiago Elezir was nothing but shrapnel on the ground. I looked toward the horizon...and wondered if Nagase was laughing under her flight helmet. There would a day of reckoning for Santiago's sacrifice. We landed back at the base and we saw Santiago's crew chief up against the hanger walls in tears. As we hung around the hangar for some time, a black cloud overhung the base. I went later that day to see Aki and little Evey in town. For a fleeting moment, looking at them took me away from the grim reality of things. Evey had only been alive for three hours.

"She's beautiful." I said while holding her.

"She looks just like you in a way. She's got those pretty blue eyes you have."

"Wow...this is the best day of my life."

It was now official. We were a family now. And to think that we'd become a family...and I'd lost a member of my second family. The next day we held a short service for Santiago that was cut short by incoming cruise missiles. The base was heavily damaged and some of the command staff was killed. We were ordered to withdraw once again in an embarrassing fashion. I had to leave Aki and Evey behind once again. But things now took an even more critical turn. My parents were still living in Obersalzburg...and it was our next line of defense. This time there would be no retreat..at least, not without a fight. I would seek to avenge Santiago; we all did. A line had been drawn in the sand. We were on a collision course with Nagase and her friends in Task Force November. Both sides did and both would bring all to bear in the most horrific battle of the war...the siege of Obersalzburg.

Next Chapter: The Siege of Obersalzburg


	15. The Siege of Obersalzburg

Chapter 14: The Siege of Obersalzburg

_**Playing Catch-Up**_

It pained me to know that I couldn't read Aki's letters anymore. She no doubt was being kept awake for long hours by our baby. I felt bad for her. There was a part of me that would do anything to trade a sleepless night due to an air raid siren for a sleepless night due to a baby's cries.

The loss of Santiago was a serious blow to our unit. Max had obviously been affected by his death. The two would often go on leave and "paint the two red". One could see it in his eyes. However, things were not entirely saddening. As far as I could tell, Aki was doing fine. No doubt the Oseans had overrun the town, but there was no one there to fight. At least the town would be safe. The front line had yet to move to Obersalzburg though. Fierce fighting between ground units had held the Oseans up. We were conducting a masterful retreat. However, in the grand scope of things we were alone. The units north and south of us were not willing to combat the alliance and surrendered. They were literally giving the country away to those who had betrayed us before and would no doubt do it again.

Knowing that the enemy was farther away than we thought, we decided to reorganize. So I asked Katze if he wanted to be with our squadron and he agreed. I was impressed by his optimism, especially given our current situation. Katze was a medium-sized guy with short black hair and dark skin. He was a glasses wearing guy and for some reason Freya took to him. As Manel joined the squadron, we decided to give him the simple nickname "Bluebird" since we couldn't really think of anything to ask him. I noticed how happy Manel and Sienna were together. I had noticed her past relationship with Hartz. Perhaps she had finally found who she really wanted. Perhaps she had finally become the person she really wanted to be. It was then that I realized that was no longer a man for destruction...I was simply a man who lived for battle. It had taken me a long time of death and destruction to realize that.

Then on May 7th, Galland came up to me and told me the news. Of course, at first I naturally decided to take this with a grain of salt. I never looked at him the same after the scapegoat incident.

"I have some good and bad news. The bad news is that we're running out of spare parts for the old planes. You and your squadron really tear those things up. The good news is that a set of advanced fighters are available now. However, there's few crews that are experienced enough to operate them."

"What is this...advanced fighter?" I asked.

He then brought me to a hangar just outside of the city. In it was a large plane; a very large fighter. The fighter was about the size of an F-15.

"I give you...the Su-37 Terminator. Gelb Squadron actually pilots a prototype version. The modifications they made on them only makes them marginally better than this one. On a performance basis, this is as good as it gets. And what is more, the control scheme is somewhat similar to what you've been using on the Mig-29. The only difference is that you're far more maneuverable. And this is going to be of great to you and your squadron."

"Wow...this is incredible...and I'm just looking at it."

I guess what Galland wanted to do was give a rather blunt apolgy. Regardless of wheither that was true or not, in the scope of things...all was forgiven. And just as well, for our enemies were bringing more and more sophisticated planes of their own.

There was one problem. They were only four available at the time. I felt it wouldn't be fair for me to have this by default. So we simply drew straws. The lucky Terminator users were to be myself, Katze, Sayla and Freya. Sienna would command the Mig element with Max and Rafe and even Manel using Santiago's spare plane.

Later, we went over the basics of the Terminator from a flight manual written by the test pilots. We found that flying one Yuktobania-licenced aircraft was much like flying another. The only difference was the ordinance load, speed, and obvious maneuverability. The thrust vectoring was a brand-new concept to all of us. We tried to get in as much flight time as possible, but battle called. It was time to take what little knowledge we had to shove down our throats in a short time to battle the enemy.

May 12th. We sat in a briefing room to discuss more about our rivals. We then knew most of what we needed to know. We knew that the unit was commanded by four individuals: Damien Harvey, Reiko Nagase, a Colonel Underhill, and one more individual we'd only met twice before. Sienna and the Major did some digging and found out one thing. Apparently, that other squadron was called Silverfang, led a Captain Perrault. The other individuals were identified by encounters other squadrons had with the enemy. Geist, oddly enough, gave us information about a squadron that was drafted into the Task Force somewhat recently. It was run by Rafe's old acquaintance, Commander Derek Snow. Lovecraft's connection to the Task Force was limited if anything. We knew that the majority of the Task Force had to have been racists, if how they treated Lovecraft and Grimm were any proof. Then again, Harvey and Nagase had a good reason to dislike us. We knew nothing about the others except their names. The task now was to find and shoot them down, or at least gather intelligence on them. We had a belief they were operating in the north and it would be there we would search for the enemy.

_**Silver Fang and Blue Goblin**_

We headed north to search on the cold, cloudy morning of the 13th.

"You know...I heard Donner had an encounter with one of the task force memebers. They were flying these red and brown F-18s." said Max.

"Red and brown? That sounds like Snow all right. He was not a flashy individual, he dressed in drab colors when he went out on liberty. He was a psudeo-Communist supporter. He didn't hate them; he actually admired what it was trying to do. However, economics wasn't his strong point. But he was a guy who loved battles. He was facinated by war. However, he unlike Harvey did not care about the glory that was associated with it." Rafe said.

"He kinda reminds me of us." I said.

"That is true."

All air squadrons were charged with intercepting the enemies and causing as much damage to the ground forces as possible. We had our new planes repainted in squadron colors.

"Man, this thing is so sweet to handle! Why weren't we given these planes earlier?" said Katze.

"Don't get too crazy with it Fauna Eight." I said.

"Hold on...I'm getting bandits on my radar."

The interesting thing was the fact that we now had the option of shooting long range missiles. The others prefered the longer range missiles. I carried only Archer and Radar missiles. The dogfighter in me told me to go in, and the fangs came out.

"Long range or short range? Your call." said Sienna.

"We're going in!"

Suddenly, we overheard enemy radio chatter.

"Wolf Four to Wolf One, target's on radar. It's them."

"Just don't go off chasing that enemy plane again. Hendrix is dead. There's nothing you can do about it. Just get over it."

"You've been a great comfort, sir." one of the pilots said obviously in a sarcastic tone."

"Wait a minute...It's him. That psycho that keeps chasing me!" Sayla said.

"They're closing in on us! Don't let em get near us!"

Suddenly, a large wave of missiles flew towards us. Luckily, our Terminators could easily avoid such missiles.

"There they are. The infamous Beast Squadron."

"We've got fighters closing in, tally left."

"That voice...Rudel...is that you? It's ironic we meet again on oppsosite sides. So you've joined the beasts. Very well...hunting season's just started." he said. With that, he flew toward us with this Wolf Squadron in tow.

_**Sole Survivor**_

As we approached the enemy a tense air formed around us as they came in a neat, wide formation then suddenly split to engage us. We sliced between then and the turning contest began. It was now I realized the turning potential of the Terminator. We could now fight independently and not depend so much on each other's cover. Sienna's group dived on the Rafales as they fired missiles. One of the F-15s had gotten on my tail. I simply turned the plane to the left at full speed and soon I found myself behind him. The lead Rafale and his wingman had closed in on me. I fired off one Archer missile then broke right into the pursuing planes. Suddenly, I saw Katze's plane doing all sorts of twists and turns to avoid the other two F-15s. I moved in to cover him, but then he demonstrated instant skill when he simply pointed the nose down and slowed; the other planes sped past him. He fired two of his longer-ranged missiles at the enemy and broke off again. Neither hit, but he had achieved his immediate aim. Sienna's group had downed one of the Rafales. The mighty Task Forces was being whittled down. I then heard a beep indicating a hit from my Archer missile.

"What the? How in the world did these guys get so good? What kinda planes are they sporting now!?"

"I've never seen that model before!"

"Goblin One to all planes. Stay focused. These guys aren't invincible."

However, the rapidly approaching pair of Terminators of Sayla and Freya quickly made him change his mind. Suddenly, an F-15 began firing at me.

"You're not getting away from me!"

"Not you again!"

Suddenly, the lead F-15 and his partner cut in front of me. I went ahead and fired two of my Archers at the enemy planes. Suddenly, what became a valient battle for Goblin and Wolf Squadrons was now a slaughter.

"I'm hit! I'm going down."

"Get out of there Goblin Three!"

"Too late-"

"Damn! I can't...aaahh!!"

"Goblin's leader's down!"  
"I got him!"

"Archer inbound, deploy countermeasures!"

"It's not working! We can't get them off us!"

"Two! Don't slow down it won't...Two!"

"Aaaaaah!"

"Damn, you bastards! Ah! I'm hit! Ejecting!" Wolf Leader said.

Suddenly only one fighter was left...but he had broken off suddenly. He flew away at maximum speed. It was a total victory for the good guys.  
(end music)

"You'll live to regret this!" he said, with a choking voice.

"Looks like he gave up. I hate that dramatic stuff...'you'll live to regret this!' Come on!" Max said.

"Fauna One to base. Have the ground units do a search for that downed pilot if possible. He's going to be a valuable source of information."

"This is Base. We need you back ASAP. The Yukes are launching a major attack on Berschesgaden."

"Berschesgaden? Holy crap...they attacking the line head on!"

Berschesgaden was an ancient city about as old as Obersalzburg. Over the last few weeks, all the civilians had been evacuated and it was turned into a fortress. It was Obersalzburg's first line of defense. To the south, the Oseans were closing in to close the vice around the city. With no units north or south...we were on our own. We would meet the Yukes again; they would also be packing aces of their own...

_**Guinevere**_

We had to rush back to base and refuel, re-arm and get back out. The Yukes' attacks on Berchesgaden was nothing short of worrying. If Berchesgaden fell, we knew that there would nothing between us and Obersalzburg on the left flank. The Oseans could complete the vise and the city would be completely cut off. Taking off with us were Geist and Donner squadrons. Our objective was to the northeast and rain could have been a factor. The clouds were getting dark around the city.(the left flank; most of Obersalzburg faces south)

"Geist One to Raven Nest. Give me a sitrep."

"There's a large-scale battle over the Oder River section. Get over there and provide support as soon as possible." the AWACS responded.

"Roger."

"I wonder if _they_ will be there as well." Hesse said.

"They?" I asked.

"A trio of Yuke aces with a bunch of planes with them. They're Round Table veterans to boot. Those guys are no joke in combat." said Hesse.

"I wonder how they fight." said Sienna.

"Hah! They'll be nothing more than kill markings on my fighter." Geist Leader said.

"Don't get so overconfident, Geist One. If it's who I think are behind those helmets...we could be in for a tough one." Hesse replied.

"Whatever." Geist Leader said.

We moved along a vector of 300 approaching the city. Even at forty miles out we could track the massive amount of friendlies and enemies on radar. We expected it to be a simple fight despite the clouds forming over the city. We were not sure if these so-called Yuke aces were going to show up; then again, experience had taught me that they always showed at the exact moment one didn't want them to.

"All units stay focused. The Yukes have air superiority in this area. Don't get lazy out there." Geist Leader said.

"This is Raven Nest..we've got additional enemies on radar. Eight targets. We've intercepted some Yuke transmissions as well, but it's hard to translate...wait, someone's speaking basic."

"Patch it through." I said.

The initial voice amazed me. The flight lead's voice was that of a young female; she couldn't have been that much older than Sienna was. The others were obviously scruffy voices of older men and the dignified voice of an older female.

"Mujonir One to all planes. Hostile targets confirmed on radar. It's them. The phantom planes. Prepare to attack!"

Suddenly, out of the darkening sky roared eight planes...eight drab white and blue crossed Berkuts. The leader had a distinctive set of green colored wings.

"Wait a minute! Those green wings, white bodies...it's them! They were the ones that wiped out the 57th Squadron yesterday!" Geist Three said.

"Don't get panicky. These guys fight clean. Such foolishness, this knights of the sky stuff is. Let's finish these posers off." said Geist Leader.

"Don't be so overconfident. All I see is style and no substance." the leader said.

"You've got to be kidding me. Go run along little girl. I never liked you Yukes at all." Geist Leader said.

"Umm...I don't think you should make her mad Geist One."

"Honestly, you piss me off by thinking in my general direction. Forget the Widowmaker! We will deal with them later! Begin your attack now!"

"All right. Everyone follow Lady Guinevere. We will end this vendetta now." one of the other planes said.

Suddenly, the enemy planes turned from us and violently into Geist. On some strange level, I was kinda happy that we were not being chased for once. That is...until another enemy showed up...a very familiar set of purple planes that would come to intervene. They roared out of the clouds.

"It's him. Let the Yukes deal with the Raptors. We shall duel the Widowmaker yet again. Let's go Dragon Squadron!"

"Here we go again..." said Max.

I wasn't completely sure if Geist could handle them, but suddenly the Violet Dragon appeared in their grand regal formation.

"They're coming in from 310 wait...no from 014...hold on...140!" the AWACS said.

"Come on, make up your minds!" I said frustrated, "Everyone lock on and destroy the incoming bandits!" 

We decided to engage the closest enemy rather than the enemy behind us. If we had done the latter, we'd invariably have another enemy at backs and so on. Katze went ahead and shot three long range missiles at the incoming purple planes. One hit but the others missed.

Suddenly, the Dragon separated his flight. He began to fly nervously, almost as if he underestimated the ability of our aircraft. He was lucky against Geist, but it would not happen a second time. He continued to to elude us but we kept closing in on them. Perhaps their experience fighting long-range aircraft had finally tripped them up. They still turned well; but it was a desperate fight against our advanced planes. He was a slippery devil to catch. As Max and I pursued him, he simply increased his speed and dove to the surface then accelerated at full speed back into the fight. We'd follow him into the dive and he simply do double S-Turn and fire a few machine gun salvos as we just found his position. We continued to dance all over the sky. But suddenly, the plane we were chasing...disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Max asked.

"I think I hit him. Do you see any wreckage on the ground?" I said.

"No."

"Fine, let's see if we can help Geist out." I said.

Meanwhile, Geist was actually having trouble with the enemy planes. Donner had moved into help but they essentially had their hands full. The Berkuts could out turn the F-16s with impunity. And this Mujonir Squadron wisely wasn't about to allow Geist any room to get out to long range, much less let them out of visual range. The planes of Mujonir were coming in pairs after each plane. Then they would split, a plane would follow and suddenly another pair was on them. Suddenly, the one weakness of the Raptor came out...it's fragility.

"Where did they go?! I cant-"

Suddenly, as Freya, Sayla and myself came into the merge a burst of cannon fire utterly destroyed one of Geist's planes.

"Ulrich!"

And almost after Jessonseck, our old CO, had died...the third plane erupted into flames after being hit by two of the four missiles fired at it.

"Dammit! You're going down you Yuke . I'm not dying today! No! No one's talking about me in the past tense!"

"Kill you? I'm not trying to kill you...I'm here to liberate you; I'm here to liberate you from the idea that you have the right to control the world."

"So you and Osea can rule the world?! The hell with that!!!!" yelled Dora.

Suddenly I saw Geist One roar into mixture of fighters.

"AAAAHHHH!" he yelled maniacally firing his missiles into the group. They all missed but one fired from behind them did not. A soon saw the unthinkable: Geist Leader was trailing smoke.

"Ah! I can't keep the plane level..."

"Get out of there!" Freya said, obviously concerned about her former protege.  
"This isn't over! This isn't over!" he said I saw a burst from the plane and a parachute unfold.

Suddenly, as soon as they came...Mujonir disappeared into the clouds. The other purple planes disappeared.

"Holy crap, that woman unbelievable...she took out Geist..."

_**Mordred and Gawain**_

We didn't have enough fuel to continue to Berchesgaden, fight and return home. I asked the AWACS if there was a tanker aircraft nearby. We were told one was in route so we flew west, stunned by the events of what had happened. Only to be shocked yet again even while we refueled our airplanes.

"Oh no...we just got a wire from Berchesgaden, the city's surrendering!"

"What?!"

My blood turned to ice. We'd been defeated yet again and now a siege was unavoidable.

"What happened?! Our defense line was supposed to be almost impassible!" said Max.

"Hey...we've got a lot of fighters coming in! We gotta bug out; they know we're here!" said one of Donner's wingman.

"To hell with that! Come on, we'll fight them off." said Hesse.

"Against three dozen fighters!?"

"Relax, we've fought better enemies before."

"Hold on, we've got two lead groups coming in. Eight planes a piece." the AWACS said.

Suddenly, on the horizon I saw them. There were in one long formation. There were two black planes in the lead.

"Greetings. I am Sir Mordred and my associate here is Sir Gawain. Your deaths shall be added to our list of victories." the leader said in a dark, haunting yet obviously Yuktobanian voice.

"Well, at least Lady Guinevere was a little nicer..."

"The Princess is gone. We, the Black Knights shall deliver you to the Underworld." the other, presumably Gawain, said.

"What is it with you people and all this drama? Let's just go on ahead and get out of here!" I said.  
"All right, we'll try to cover from our position. Go on and get of here!" said Hesse.

"You can't do that alone!" Sienna shouted.

"Don't worry, somebody's gotta stay alive for the next day...Let's go!" said Hesse.

Suddenly, Hesse took off for the enemy. The others did not follow...for about a few seconds and soon they took off as well.

"Hesse! Crap, let's get out of here. We'll get them another day." said Max.

I had to think in realistic terms. Our weapons were almost depleted from the battle before. We had no choice but to leave and return to base as fast as possible. "Good luck." I said and we all hesitantly left the battle. We heard the chaotic radio calls as we flew away. I felt ashamed, but this was the only thing we could do. Suddenly, one of our planes left the zone.

"Rafe! What are you doing!" asked Sayla.

"I can't do this! I can't leave them there!"

"Rafe! There's been enough dead heroes! We'll fight them another day and this weather's not going goo...stop! STOP!" Freya began.

"I gotta do this...for all of us. I gotta make this count. I'm going in!"

"STOP! STOP!" Freya shouted, her voice breaking.

I suddenly realized that I couldn't stop him really. I wanted to go back, but I had to think of the group.

"Hey! Look this isn't worth it-" Katze started.

"That's enough. We can't stop him and we've got to get back! Someone has to defend the city! Besides, he's got plenty of fuel. He'll make it back, alright!" I said, reassuring the group.

"Thanks man. I'll try to buy you as much time as possible. And good luck." said Rafe.

"Good luck buddy." I said, turning away.

The rain came in later that day. No one on either side could fly effectively. Fierce ground battles raged for the next few days. During those times of loneliness and despair. I wondered if Aki and Evey were being treated well by the enemy. But that wasn't what really concerned me. Everyday, I stood outside and saw Freya and Sayla standing out in the rain waiting for either Rafe or Donner Squadron to return. They hoped their old war buddy would come back like he always did; he never returned. Geist, Donner, and Rafe were gone.  
However, one small ray of hope came. Some ground troops soaked with mud and water, came up dragging a man with them.

"Captain. We found this pilot just outside of town. We'd thought you'd be interested in his information. He was just sitting there; he put up no resistance."

"Who is he?"

"Umm...an Osean pilot...um...Lovecraft. A Captain Jonathan Lovecraft." the soldier said.

I looked down at the man. He was a blonde haired man. I also saw a small golden ring on his hand. He was married too. His eyes were a glassy blue and he looked much younger than he actually was. The Purple Dragon was in our hands. But what he had to tell us would change our fate...forever.

Next Chapter: "The Sorrow of Belka"


	16. Sorrow of Belka

(Note: Sort of a short chapter. Just to clear up a few concerns, this story was actually completed last year, but due to personal issues, I was unable to post it in its entirety until now. And for the record, this was actually written before AC: Zero came out, so it will slightly deviate from the game's storyline.)

Chapter 15: "The Sorrow of Belka"

May 18th. The fighting in Obersalzburg had reached a crecendo the likes of which we'd never seen. The civilians had been filtering out of the city for the past few weeks, and only about 15,000 were left. However, our options were running out as Osea and Yuktobania finished the envelopment of the city. Everything and everyone was trapped. A horrifying urban battle was taking place. The air base had been attacked constantly, but our strong anti-aircraft fire around the city had been enough to drive off the few air strikes. There was nothing we could do about the artillery. I worried about my parents who I hoped had evacuated. I was getting worried about them; I had not heard from them in many days. Only an idiot would have not been able to see that the war was all but lost. Ustio's capital had been freed and our forces to the south were being driven back. For whatever reason, the requests for fire support from Excailbur fell on deaf ears. Perhaps it had to do with the risk of hitting civilian areas. For the last few days the weather had been atrocious. Flying was near impossible in these conditions. Max and I nearly crashed into each other when we tried to suppress enemy movement. The situation inside the city was chaotic. The coalition held a third of the city and we held the other two halves.

With all the planes grounded, it gave us ample time to recover and rest. But we had lost so many good pilots that only a skeleton force remained. We only had fourteen planes. It was also critical to find out all the information we could from our captured member of the Task Force, Jonathan Lovecraft. We had not found the leader of Wolf Squadron, Captain Perrault. However, Lovecraft was not difficult to crack. Major Ricktofen, Sienna, and myself stood in a small room we used for interrogation.

_**The Whole Truth**_

"Okay, Let's start from the beginning. Why did you leave Belka?" the Major started.

"I didn't like where things were going when the party changed hands. The Heron(Indigo One) never blamed me for leaving. So I took my wife and my babies to Osea. All I knew was how to fly. Problem was that Osea wouldn't allow Belkans in the military. Governmental racism, you could call it. That was until late 1993 when a special unit called Section Three was formed. It was a mercenary company that hired Belkans, Yukes, Versuans, Aneans, anyone that was not Belkan. We'd go to war so Osea wouldn't have to pour its own blood out unless it was really necessary."

"What was your connection to Ulrich Grimm?" I asked.

"Ulrich? He was always part of us. He was essentially a double agent. He hated the new party. He kinda predicted all this chaos would happen. He was advisor and a liaison to Section Three. He'd go into Belka and recruit faction members and what not. He got made just before the war. We had to get him out. His group stole some planes and they got out of dodge. We met up at B7R just after the war started. Guy was damn good; he even shook off Schwarze."

"You mean Section Three was fighting at the Round Table? Who was part of your unit?" asked the Major.

"The unit was commanded by several people. Our squadron was commanded by a newer officer just prior to the war. Captain Damien Harvey of the Navy. He was a real maverick but he was a good pilot. But he was the biggest racist this side of Sudentor. Him and his boss, the current leader of the Task Force...Colonel Dwight Underhill."

"Tell me about the Task Force." Sienna asked.

He went on and told us about them. He confirmed much of our information. Underhill was an air force officer that was the head of section three. Underhill and Harvey were, from Lovecraft's perspective, insidious like no other. Harvey understandably went nuts when we sunk the Vigilance. His father and his three brothers were on it. After that battle, the task force was created by the staff of an Air Force Command. Underhill was put in charge and handpicked pilots to be in it from the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps; and recently Yukes were added. He even put certain members of Section Three in...including Lovecraft and Grimm. Not all members of section three were mercenaries. Some were foreign volunteers from Sapin and Fato. Some of the squadron leaders from the Sapinian Air Force were put into the Task Force as well. We told him what we knew, and then what he told me...

"So you guys didn't get along well?" I asked.

"A lot of them hated us Belkan defectors. Especially Underhill and Harvey, and to a certain extent the Nagase couple. Seiko Nagase was the acting head of the unit. However, Harvey distrusted everyone and insisted that he keep a close eye on Nagase. Harvey kept Nagase and the rest of us in check. He's like the Osean version of Schwarze. Underhill would see something he doesn't like and Harvey, being the strong arm, would do the dirty work. That's why he shot down Grimm...well that's not the entire reason."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Grimm and I found out about what the Task Force was _really_ created for. It was all a front done under the guise of looking for you. In reality, it was a cover to get Underhill everything he needed to accomplish his his goal. They knew Grimm knew. They didn't know I knew. That's why he was looking for you! He was going to tell you the truth as I am!"

"Then what are his intentions?" Sienna asked.

"There are a group of pilots in the Task Force that are secretly part of an underground group of extremists. They've only been around for weeks. Underhill's been secretly building up a massive amount of supplies in a short amount of time and only because he gets results does he get his way. Most of the pilots that are a part of this group only just joined the movement. Anyone who didn't agree was killed with only three exceptions. Myself, Perrault, and that ace that was with me days ago."

"That...Lady Guinevere?" I said.

"Her real name's Ella Tsagi, age 24. The only reason she wasn't gotten rid of was because she is ignorant of what's really going on. They know she doesn't know, and Harvey isn't stupid. Tsagi's the daughter a prominent Yuke Air Force General. If he capped her...it could have been a international fiasco of biblical proportions. Not that it's not going to happen when this thing get out into the open. Of course, in Harvey's eyes she knows too much. In reality, element of her unit and other Yukes were part of the task force. Now, we think the Yukes may be invovled with this group. I can guarantee Tsagi isn't with them...though her friends may be. Of course, they have good reason to be in it..."

"Who's in it? And what is it called?" asked the Major.

"It's called the 'Sorrow of Belka'. It's led by Underhill and Harvey. They managed to recruit a substantial number of pilots for the cause just recently."

"As of now, who are the members? And most importantly...what are their intentions?" Sienna asked.

"It consists of only people that have lost someone at the hands of Belka. Friends, wingman, brothers, sons, and a husband in one case. Here's a list." he said handing me a piece of paper with a list of names.

**Dwight "Iron Pegasus" Underhill  
Damien "Speed Demon" Harvey  
Reiko "Bloody Mary" Nagase  
James "Silver Eagle" Silver  
Marcus "Blood Falcon" Davenport  
Antoniv "Gawain" Valencia  
Androd "Mordred" Mishrya  
Valentin "Lancelot" Zaitsev  
Ivana "Rahab" Deruska**

"This is deep. Very deep. But what are they trying to do?!" the Major asked forcibly. Lovecraft took a deep breath.

"The goal of 'Sorrow of Belka' is destroy all of Belka's cities, or as many as possible. They are going to eradicate every city in Belka by the oldest method in the world...by setting them on fire."

"WHAT!?" I said jumping out of my chair.

"I know you don't believe me, but it's the truth." said Lovecraft.  
"How in the world are they going to get away with something of that magnitude...much less do it?!" Sienna asked.

"In 1993, Osea developed an incendiary bomb so powerful it was instantly deemed inhumane and a weapon of mass destruction, the B61-Mark 13ICM, codename "Dispater". It weighs over 2000 lbs. Unlike regular incendiary devices, this one ignites using a special chemical that ignites certain elements in metal and concrete. It also releases a superheated version of oxygen that can ignite water. In short, it explodes at a temperature of 8,500 degrees F. It's design allows it to create massive firestorms that feed off itself. The more oxygen, the more fire. The impact zone is completely melted and it has a splash radius of at least 2400 ft; it's the poor man's nuclear warhead."

"How many of these things exist?" asked Sienna.

"About 400. They were actually not that expensive to make. It was just a modified Fuel Air Explosive bomb. One bomb can devastate about 70 city blocks. You drop that thing in the middle of a small city. Goodbye. And guess who the test pilot that dropped the first bomb. Underhill. I don't know how he got his hands on them, but those bombs were considered illegal and stored away. There are only four aircraft that can drop the bomb. The A-10, B-52, F-15E or that new weird-looking model they got MTD slash something, and the B-2."

He handed us a second sheet of paper, with specs for the bomb, proposed bombing scenarios, etc.

"Those crazy bastards! Well...well was there a date or time they were going to do this?" I asked.

"What's today?"

"May 18th? Why?" the Major said.

"You know, if my compass wasn't broken I'd have gotten here sooner. I was getting worried that you wouldn't find me. Let's see. You've got about...two hours." he said while looking at his watch.

"Dammit! We gotta go now! Get the others ready to go. We need to stop these psychos. I hope the weather's cleared up; the rain's not going to stop them either. I want everybody in the briefing room now!" I said.

I was determined that there wasn't going to be a terror bombing of such proportions on my watch.

_**High Treason**_

(http://jeff. begins)

We were lucky the weather had cleared up. Below us a fierce urban battle raged along the banks of the river that divided the city in half. We knew that our infantry was taking heavy casualties in the city. But there was little our unit could do. However, the possible immolation of the city would have done neither side any good.

"I can't believe those crazy SOBs. They actually think they can get away with incinerating cities? They're kidding me!" said Max.

"They must really hate us. I have seen first hand what hatred does to a person. It ain't pretty." said Freya.

"It's as if they've forgotten every ideal they stood for." Sayla said.

"As if Harvey and Underwood had any to begin with!" I replied.

"This is Raven Nest. We've been on the lookout for any suspicious enemy activity. The only thing we've spotted is a group of enemies moving south of Berchesgaden. Their signature matches the ones that shot down Geist group, altitude 20,000."

"So the Princess is back for another go, eh?" Katze said.

"Stay sharp. Don't get overconfident like Geist did." I said to him.

"Hold on...we've got additional enemies on radar. They're following behind them, but they're keeping their distance." said Max.

"Keep an eye on them. We know Yuke pilots are in this terrorist group." I said.

Suddenly, I could see on my radar that the incoming planes had increased their speed. I could see the shapes of fighter jets in the distance.

"Fauna One to all planes, enter defensive formation." I said.  
(end music)

(http://jeff. music)

Suddenly above us appeared the eight targets. I looked up and saw them fly downwards and circle back around into a double wagon wheel of their own. Then they flew away and formed a line just out of range of our missiles.

"Mujonir One to all units. All we need to do is neutralize the airfield and the city's ours."

"Sorry, but you have to go through us first." I said confidently.

"Of course...nothing personal though."  
Suddenly, all eight planes launched their radar missiles at us then banked into each other. They were using the same tactics we were using! We simply deployed chaff and closed in on them; Sienna's group from below and mine from above. They simply maintained their formation and then rapidly split to deal with each group. They sliced between us and as we turned to engage, they were flying back toward us firing their cannons. We exchanged gunfire then I sent Sienna's group to rapidly acend and attack down on the enemy planes. But Guinevere checked that when she simply sent half the group to chase them and intercept them up at a higher altitude. This forced us to go high, and she came from behind to attack. Sienna wisely turned into the ascending Berkuts firing down on them with radar missiles forcing one of them to break off with minor battle damage. However, things came to a screeching halt.

She reformed her squadron for a charge, and we prepared our defensive formation. Suddenly, every plane but her broke off and formed a line behind her. I thought this was a bit unusual. I thought she'd simply called it off to check our wagon wheel. I broke it off and ordered the other planes to retreat to longer range; she fired at me and I gave her a short burst of my cannons. It missed but she rapidly applied speed to break out.

"What's going on! Why did you break formation? Deruska? Answer me!"

"Sorry old friend. I'm getting sick of this "knightly" business. I only wish is destruction and war...not prancing around the skies. My new associates seem very anxious to reap this benefit."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

It was then I realized what the line was for. Deruska was a member of the "Sorrow of Belka". It was a firing line; it was a convenient seven missiles for seven planes.

"You traitorous whore! You'd be in prison if it wasn't for me! This is how you repay my infinite generosity!?" said Mujonir Leader.

"Sorry little girl. Such matters are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is destruction and my revenge." said Deruska.

(end music)

Before she could fire on us, another wave of fighters came in straight for us.

"We got more fighters coming in!" Manel said.

"Lancelot! Thank God! We have a traitor in our ranks! I could use some support!" Guinevere said.

"What?"

"Sorry Ella. It's just as you said...nothing personal. Times have changed. We've lost countless friends to these barbarians. Vengeance only matters now; and now we shall have our revenge! Commander Harvey! The time is now!" he said in a maniacal fervor.

"What?!"

The radar suddenly went dead. Communications were cut. Then two fighters screamed from the sky above us. They dropped two bombs before I could cut them off.

"NOOO!" Freya and I cried out in a shrieking outburst of pain and anger.

The city's center erupted in a massive, flashing aura of flame. The cone of fire spewing liquid flame everywhere. Suddenly, smaller blast of fire erupted. Then almost immediately, a second bomb erupted west of the river...right on the Osean and Yuke lines. The flame spread for

"My god..." Manel said, speechless.

"What...what...what have you done?!" Guinevere said angrily.

I sat there in my plane and looked at the two groups of planes. No matter if we were in an Su-37, 47, or Mig-29...one thing became clear. The war had gone too far. Yet despite even this, none of knew that the horror was only just beginning.

Next Chapter: Firestorm


	17. Firestorm

(note: if you notice any odd numbering in the chapters, please let me know; there have been some minor revisions)

Chapter 17: Firestorm

_**The Flames of Malevolence**_

I turned violently into the pair of fighters. They were joined by several other strange looking F-15s The radar was still malfunctioning and I did not even notice most of the Yukes flying away. Suddenly, I realized that one of the planes looked familiar. One of the F-15s was different, but the paint was the same. There was no mistaking who dropped the bomb. It was her...Bloody Mary.

"Nagase!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"You! Well, what a surprise, but they'll be no one to stop us this time!" she said.

"You go on! I'll take my squad and finish him off." a familiar voice said. The plane he was flying was dark and reddish. It was like a vulture and I instantly knew who it was.

"So you're James Silver, the psycho that keeps chasing us huh?"

"Psycho is a relative term. I won't ask you how you learned my name, because it doesn't matter."

"Don't give me that rookie. Lovecraft told me all about you."

"He's still alive!?" he said shocked.

"Damn that Davenport! He told me he nailed him with a long range missile! But we will deal with the incompetent fool later." Nagase said.

I wasted no time and fired several of my long range missiles at the group. I managed to hit one of the planes. It was my twenty-seventh kill. Silver rushed at me through the rising smoke. I simply pointed the nose down and flew toward the burning city. But Nagase did not give chase; she simply flew off. I was obviously more experienced than this Silver. He was chasing me low and through the burning buildings. The fire and heat was intense and it seemed I had made a descent into Hell.

"You're not getting away! Not this time!" Silver yelled at me.

I then saw a tall building that was completely on fire and dove into it. At the last second, I pulled away into the billowing smoke and pulled up. As he fell for my trap I came out behind him and fired several cannon shells. He broke to avoid, but he was still in the smoke; a rookie mistake. I was above the smoke and could dive down on him. Finally, he emerged from the smoke with one wing trailing fire. Then I realized that it wasn't my cannon fire that did it, it was the heat of the flames in which he helped cause. Irony.

"Ah! I can't keep it airborne! I gotta keep fighting! I have to have my revenge!" he said angrily as his airplane continued to warp under the heat and flames.  
"And thus it is all you have left. Enjoy your miserable experience." I said.

I couldn't immediately tell if he ejected nor did I care. There was only one more to go. But Nagase was an elusive foe.

I left the fires of what was once the shopping district; it was the same place where I met Freya Lanne so long ago. I climbed straight up and out of the smoke. The city was awash in flame. My world was dark and cloudy. Freya's world was literally going up in flames before her very eyes. To think that she came back with one leg, fought so hard only to see the place she loved ablaze with bright liquid fire. I wondered what it was like down there on the ground.

As I came up, I saw the other planes struggling to get out. Freya was doggedly pursuing them.

"This one won't let up. All Avalon units, begin attack."

Suddenly, Manel and Sayla came rushing by to help. Above me, poor Ella Tsagi was twisting and turning to avoid attacks by her betrayers.

"I'm taking all of you traitors down!"

She plunged into the center of the enemy shooting with her missiles. She managed to shoot down one. Suddenly, several bright-red Typhoons of Avalon Squadron struck by me Freya in persuit.

"Fauna Squadron, this will be your funeral pyre. It's a good day to die!"

"You first!"

As Avalon came by me fast, Freya came at them hell bent on dealing the deathblow. She amazingly tore one apart with her guns at the Squadron turned in to attack again. She caught another one with a direct hit from her missile. I was hell bent on locating Nagase, but she was long gone. She slipped through my fingers. The woman who dropped the bombs was still free. I cursed myself.

"This woman is a demon!" Lancelot said.

Lancelot tried to go high but he could not shake both her off. One of the remaining Avalon planes turned behind her but completely forgot about Sayla who sped mast me. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the ground under us and Lancelot used the distraction to disappear.

To the left, I still saw Guinevere fighting off her betrayers.

"You got lucky little girl. Now step aside and let the real fighter ace show you how it's done!"

She turned towards Guinevere with the others in tow. She fled full speed back into my area then turned upwards. As I moved upwards myself to continue the search for Nagase, two planes from Deruska's group closed the gap. Then all of the sudden, a plane roared past me firing and shooting the two planes down one after the other. It was Max.

"Ha! That got em!" he said.

Suddenly the lead plane turned violently into Max and and Guinevere struck firing the last of her missiles at the lead group then breaking off. Deruska turned to evade...but it was too late. Her plane erupted in a violent wash of flame and shrapnel.

"Where's is that guy?" I asked looking around frantically.

"I have no idea...look out!" Manel said.

Sayla, Freya, Katze, and Sienna were searching at lower altitude. The city was now chalked with smoke and fire.

"Unbelievable. They really are demons. But I won't be stopped!" and like a bat out of Hell, Lancelot charged out of the smoke firing all of his missiles.

"Sienna look out!" Manel yelled out.

Manel reacted quickly and fired a missile at Lancelot. As Sienna and the others struggled to dodge the incoming missiles, Manel's missile hit Lancelot's plane head on!

"Victory is mine! Long live the sorrow of Belka!" were his last words before he hit the ground and disappeared into the flames.

_**Scorched Earth**_

Suddenly, a lone Su-47 trailing smoke approached from the west.

"That was impressive." she said.

"I'll say." I said.

"Look at all this! This is horrible. What...what would drive someone to this?" Katze said.

"This is Weizburg Leader. Any callsign on this net respond! We are commencing Operation Nero." a voice suddenly came on the radio.

"What the hell? This is Fauna One! What's going on?"

"You didn't hear? We heard about the city being in danger of falling. We've been ordered to destroy everything so the Oseans can't get it."  
"What?!"

"This is Raven Nest. The ECM jamming has ceased. Now, we received a global communication from High Command. All units been ordered to destroy to all available industries we can in the sectors we still hold."

"You're kidding me. This city is already on fire. They're little left to destroy." I said in desperation.

"We're heading south. We've been forced to divert to our secondary target. The Breash Oil Facility. The Oseans are only a few kilometers away it. We're going to make sure they don't take advantage of it."

"Wait! Hold on!"

"We have our orders! We're already over the target site." Weizburg Leader said.

My blood froze. I could only sit back and watch the distant explosions from the bombs impacting the land. I couldn't believe it. Our homeland was going up in flames.

"Unbelievable. We've got two groups that are trying to destroy our country. How did it come to this? What are we going to do when this is over?" Sienna said.

"I have nothing left anymore. It's all going up in smoke. Obersalzburg is no more." said Freya.

"Grimm was right. They did turn on us..." Max said.

"What about us? Do we continue? Or do we go our separate ways?" Guinevere interruped.

"Just get out of here. Just go." I said. There was a long period of silence.

"I'm sorry. This is just...this is too terrible. When this war's over I'm never getting in another plane for the rest of my life. Dos Vedonya." Guinevere said sadly. And with that, she flew away.

We had to go to land at our next line of defense around the city of Sudentor. As we flew away, I wondered if Nagase, Underhill, and Harvey were laughing at this. Suddenly, a lone Mig-21 flew by us. The laughing voice on the radio was no doubt Lovecraft's. How he escaped I had no idea; but I no desire to pursue him. It wouldn't have made a difference anyway. The oil fields were set on fire and the black oil would make the clouds black for weeks.

_**Separate Ways**_

_Coalition forces are continuing to fight their way through the sudden inferno that has ravaged the thousand year old Belkan city of Obersalzburg. In case you're just joining us, a sudden firestorm has swept through the city and casualties are continuing to mount. We've had reports of soldiers being burned alive in their armored vehicles. One soldier described a scene of 'tanks being melted like butter'. The sky is filled with fire and smoke and it continues to surge throughout the town. We've had reports of whole civilian families being incinerated in their own air raid shelters. Enemy troops...oh god! You are just seeing coalition and enemy troops on fire running out of a exploding house just seconds ago! This is not a dramatization, this is for real..._

That was the voice of famed Osean war correspondent Connie Mallory and her award winning report of the deadly firestorm that raged through Obersalzburg as it happened. I sat there and watched this woman brave hundreds of degrees of heat to deliver the horrifying news. We were in a base just outside of Linz which was only thirty miles from Sudentor. After the devastating attack, most of the cities west of the Waldreich Mountains surrendered without a fight. For others, it only hardened their resolve. The battle before had suddenly made Freya and Sayla MIA. They were complaining of engine trouble exacerbated by battle damage. I tried to keep them in sight during the retreat, but there was no sign of them half way there. I imagine they had to ditch. We searched for them but no trace of them could be found. Afterwards, we were ordered to stay grounded for reasons our superiors would not give. We wanted to search for them, but we could not leave. It was completely idiotic. However, Max didn't really care about them. He was filled with a new resolve.

"Those sons of...Just look what they've done! And I'm sure Osea doesn't really care about it. They won't help rebuild it. I've got to fight harder. We all do." said Max.

Max had suddenly changed. He was horrified at the extent of the devastation, but he suddenly was angry at all the coalition members: Osea, Yuktobania, Ustio. Watching this transformation unfold was disturbing. Max suddenly lived up to his nickname "Destroyer". He wanted to destroy the allies and purge their existence from Belka. There was nothing wrong with being patriotic, but a part of me felt Max was angry at the wrong people.

"We need to find these terrorists and soon. Then we can deal with the others. I don't think they're triying to destroy us. It's like Guinevere said. Maybe they are trying to liberate us." I said.

"From what?!"

I explained to him that it was our government that was causing the problems. It was obvious that they had some sinsister goals in mind. After all, why would they be destroying factories and releasing toxins into the air? Not only that, it seemed that they had no concern for our country's future.

"That a treasonous thing to say!" he said.

Katze was also infuriated at this, and he gave me similar remarks. "I wouldn't say stuff like that out loud."

Frustrated, I went outside and I took a good look at the view. The distant sky was black from the smoke and ash of the cities. Suddenly I saw Sienna sitting on the ground looking north towards Linz. Suddenly in the distance I saw a bright flash.  
"They're blowing up the steel works. My father worked in one of those places before he died." she said with obvious sadness in her eyes.

Manel suddenly ran up. "They hit another city. They say that planes matching the description of Harvey's plane just bombed Berchesgaden. All I know is that they came from the south, oddly enough...not the west."

"Our bombers are destroying all the factories in Linz. What's the difference? It's over now. Everything's blowing up in our face. Yet Max and Katze think we can win. We don't know where Sayla or Freya are, Santiago and Rafe are dead, and they're saying the body count in Obersalzburg is up to nine thousand. How did it come to this? Hate, racism, and greed. We went to reclaim what was stolen from us, we were made scapegoats for their failure, our enemies care little for our people's problems, and now people still can't realize that all being used!"

"And we're doing all this for what? The government's whim. They're sitting in their cozy offices skulking around while they allow our own soldiers to burn our future source of income away just so Osea won't have it. Osean soldiers aren't taking any chances anymore so they call down maximum fire on a minimum threat. They don't want to be the last to die. I bet this is what they wanted when we began to lose. They don't care anymore. They don't care that some private on the front lines has a family that's in a city they can't leave because of martial law...only to have our bombers come and destroy it. I'm...I'm sick of this. I'm sick to death of all this killing. I'm only twenty one years old! I'm watching my country go up in flames! It..it wasn't supposed to be like this." Sienna said. She suddenly started sobbing uncontrollably. It was the first time I'd ever seen her cry; and there was a part of me that wanted to as well.

"Max thinks we can keep fighting to win?! There won't be anything left worth fighting for if this keeps up!" Manel said caught between trying to calm Sienna down and express his own anger.

"I can't take this anymore. I'm not carrying out any scorched earth orders. But we've still got to find those terrorists. Yet they won't let us find those who are doing this just so they can keep what they didn't even build to themselves. I don't even my parents left Obersalzburg. They were probably burned alive too!" I said angrily.

"But what can we do?" Manel said.

"They don't care about the terrorists. They just want to fight a losing battle. Yet, they won't let us even take off! I came to win. And we can't win like this. At this rate we won't even survive, much less have a place to come back too. Then again, I was also asked by the Colonel to do something so crazy, so fruitless, so stupid that even made me want to punch Galland in the face. He said he wanted volunteers to fly bombers to drop something called a B61-13 bomb on Koingsburg, where it just so happens that the Allied command has set up AND where my wife lives. I nearly lost it. I don't know if he's completely lost his mind or what?"

"What is a B61-13 anyway?" Sienna said, suddenly gaining her composure.  
"He wouldn't say. But for him to have the audacity to say that...that was the last straw. I'm not doing this anymore...not for these fanatics."

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Manel asked.

"Yeah. I am."

"Defect? Hell, what's the difference? Well...now that I think about it...if we switched sides we could find those terrorists with more ease." Sienna said.

"That is, if they allow us to join them."

"Well, I think there's one man who might let us do just that..." I said.

May 23rd. We received word that the Excalibur had been destroyed. It was extremely unfortunate for those that were charged with its defense. The government released a motivational statement about the current war situation. It told the soldiers not to give any ground, hold any quarter, and no retreat...the usual stuff. We spent the entire day wondering about what we were doing. We wondered if it was the right thing to do. But we all knew what we were doing was signed in blood. It was a bit of a gamble. Either way the war would go on, but what we were fighting for no longer existed in the period of military, political, and social upheaval. Belka was falling apart at the seams. I could see it now. The north would fight like mad and the destruction would continue with an inevitable end. It was here that I saw the truth. We had been deluded by the borders that the government put so much emphasis on. Our ideals had been formed to protect them, but now that we had failed to do so, we were no longer worthy in the government's eyes. The scapegoat scandal was a perfect example. We even heard rumors of other forces other than Schwarze being formed to execute traitors and deserters.

Such a force did not exist in the superpowers. There was no need to. I had been angry at Osea because of the brainwashing I'd received in training, in combat, in the stardom of the title of "ace". The shock of the firestorm took that away. To continue such a campaign of wanton destruction just to give the politicians more time in power was sheer insanity. The kicker was when I discovered the true nature of the B61-13; it was a tactical nuclear bomb. Galland was asking me to drop a nuclear bomb on my family's home. No...no more would we serve such madmen. I sent a coded message with our intentions the night of the 19th to none other than Jonathan Lovecraft. With Sienna's help we disqused the message and sent it by our plane's onboard SMS(short message system) that we rarely used. We now awaited a transmission from him. We grew worried until the early morning of the 22nd. We received a date, time, and coordinates. 5/23/95-0500-(24,235). That night we would rendevous with Lovecraft at the Round Table of all places...

It simple plan. Manel and I would get in and start our fighters up. Sienna would shut off the power behind the hangars and we'd take off in the confusion. The Round Table was only a hundred miles south of us. The key was timing. We figured it would take, at maximum speed, about seven minutes. However, we had to have fuel for reserve so we had to cut back on speed. It would take us about ten minutes. Then there was the possibility of interference by Schwarze. However, from what I heard, their best average response time was about ten minutes. If we were lucky, we'd be a least a minute or two ahead of them. Then again, their long range missiles would be a problem. It was going to take everything we ever learned, all the cunning we knew, and all the bravery we had. But compared to the alternative of fighting for the scraps of Belka that were left...that choice was not a choice.

The takeoff went near perfect and we communicated in light signal for nearly eight minutes. We did not do many night operations, so it was uncommon for us to have night vision. We were home free. On our radar I could see four planes. It was very unusual to only see four planes at the Round Table. I opened the radar channel as its panel started blinking.

"There you are! Just keep on coming! You're almost...hold on...we've got two bandits on our radar. Purple Dragon to Eagle Eye, prepare to switch over IFF data on my mark." Lovecraft said.

But there was no need for that at the moment. I knew exactly who it was.

"Johannes! You're not getting away! I didn't think you'd turn!" said Max.

"Max...either fall in behind or fall behind. Don't try to stop me or I will take you down." I said.

"I won't let you do this sir!" I heard Katze say.

"Wake up you two! Don't you see what's going on!" Manel said defiantly.

"Of course, that's why I gotta keep fighting. I'm going to take Osea and Yuktobania down. They started it ALL! I'm fighting to push the enemy out of our country. I will help bleed them dry of their best and brightest. Not for revenge, not for wanton destruction, just to show the world what it cost to screw over Belka! If their troops have to die in massive flames and people get in the way, so be it." Max said, anger boiling in his voice.

"You deluded fool. There won't be a Belka left to fight for if you keep down this path." Lovecraft said.

"Shut up Lovecraft! A traitor and a mercenary; you're a disgrace to our land!"

"And you'd fight for the same crazy people that destroyed all the factories in our hometown and scorched the sky with deadly toxins. No, I'm fighting to _save_ Belka and it's people so this killing can end." I said.

"I joined to serve the party, to defend it's ideals. That is why I fight." Max responded.

"So you don't care if your own town has to be destroyed to win a pointless war?" a deep male voice said.  
"Sacrifices have to be made. I can only hope that the innocent forgives me." said Max.

"What happened to you Max? I don't know you anymore. We've all been used! It was just a front to fulfill their greedy ends!" said Sienna.

"I've heard a rant like this before! What you want is the same thing that the Sorrow of Belka want...chaos!You only care about what happens to _you_ after the war's over...not everyone else." a familiar lady's voice said.

"Are you going to kill me Max? Go ahead and try." I said defiantly.

I only a pained scream from him. "Go then and leave this place! But pray we never meet again in battle. If I ever see you again Johannes...I will kill you, then I'll go kill your family! I won't forget this treachery!" he said in a fervor and he flew away. I secretly hoped I'd never see him again. I breathed a sigh of relief. We were finally free...somewhat.

"Fellow seems a bit unbalanced, doesn't he? Don't worry about your wife. They're alright. I made sure of that." said Lovecraft.

"Really?"

"There is one thing I forgot to tell you. Before you shot down Seiko, Nagase and Damien tore apart the base to find info on you. They got some of it from her. They tortured her for the information." said Lovecraft.

"What!?" I said in shock and boiling rage.

"Don't worry though. She's just fine. Though this was before this even happened. But don't worry; we'll get those psychopaths. Count on it." he replied.

I breathed a sigh of relief. At least I knew she was safe. But know I knew what I had to do. Underhill, Harvey and Nagase had to pay. I looked around our new allies. One plane was a strange F-5 variant with one engine. It was colored blue and white stripes. The other the recognizable Su-47 of Guinevere. The third was a purple colored F-4 Phantom with a set of weird green letters across its side that said, "Piper". The other was a J-35 Draken with the front in gray and the rear in a light dark.

"Who are these guys? I mean I see Ella, but..." asked Manel.

"Oh, well this guy in the blue and white Tigershark is Captain Batou Kazama or 'Soryu' as we call him. This gentlemen in the Phantom is Lt. Jamar Jones or 'Jocko'. And this lovely Sapinian lady here also came to the light, Lt. Kay Oppenheimer, aka 'Esmeralda'."

"Pleasure." I said.  
"Well, we better not dally. I don't want the Vulture to show up."

"Were are we going anyway?" Sienna asked.

"This town called Tia Lupe in Sapin. Don't worry about a thing. We'll take good care of you."

"Hey Lovecraft...thanks." I said.

"Sure thing."

_**Setup for the Showdown**_

As we flew to Tia Lupe through enemy and then friendly territory, I felt that all eyes were upon us. We were strangers in a foreign land.

"This here is Firebase Echo. It's just a dirt airfield we relocated to when Belka attacked. The border with Ustio is only a stone's throw away, it's just two miles." Lovecraft said.

It was here I could finally put a face to my new allies. Tsagi was surprising. She wasn't who I was expecting. I was expecting her to be a royal looking figure. She was actually a short, blonde haired, glasses wearing woman; she looked like the Yuke-version of Sienna. Esmeralda was more up to the royal expectations; she was a tall, long, curly brown-haired woman with deep brown eyes. Jones was a medium sized black man with short black hair and brown eyes. Jones explained that the name "Piper" on his fighter was the name of his wife back home. Kazama was a young, short black-haired man with pale skin, blue eyes and a distinctive dual crossing scar on his cheek; it looked like an "X". Jones seemed the oldest of the group, but yet he a bit younger than Lovecraft. Also, there was a man called Johnny Fontaine, callsign "O". His callsign was his middle initial, Orgesa. Orgesa was a native of Osea but now lived in Sapin. He was a tall, handsome man with tan skin and black hair. He flew an older F/A-18 Hornet that he'd constantly modified. I also noticed that wherever Johnny was, Kay was too. Apparently, they was the only other non-mercenaries of the group; they were sequestered from their squadrons and put into Task Force November.

"Hey...this is deja vu. That run down base we had in Versua was almost just like this." I said to Sienna.

We walked inside our new humble home; although it was more spartan than humble. There were several officers there and they grilled us about everything. So we told them everything: our histories, our kill totals, tactics, where we were, etc. We were given a simple deal, cooperate and we and our families be given asylum in Osea. How could we refuse? The next day, we were brought into the war room to meet with an all-business Lovecraft.

"You're not the first Belkan pilots to defect, and I imagine you won't be the last. Our primary task is to find the 'Sorrow of Belka' and eliminate them before they torch any more cities." he said.

"Do you have any leads?" I asked.  
"Only what we know so far. We know this. They have two bases of operation. We know where the first one is and we only just found this out. It's a Tarawa-class carrier our in the sea and the other is in an undisclosed location to the west. It's more than likely that they are in the extreme west side of Ustio. Their old base was seized when the story broke. They moved under jammer aircraft but we didn't know where...until now." Kazama said.

"Where are they?" Manel asked.

"We intercepted a transmission from of the members of Werewolf squadron in a conversation with another pilot. We tracked down the location to a long canyon called Reluche. That eighty to a hundred mile canyon is along the border with Belka, but guess where it runs to." said Jones.

"Where?" I asked slowly.

"The Round Table. There are a massive series of interconnected tunnels there. That's how he stored up all the munitions; he's had some help from the inside as well. The strike yesterday was done by fighters from the carrier. However, the Navy caught wind of it and it was sunk as of last night. We believe that some of the terroist leaders were on board. Underhill has been wisely laying low in this canyon for the past few days." said Lovecraft.

"I bet he's getting ready for a major attack." I said.

"He is. The carrier was a decoy for the real thing. We think there are at least 35 fighters there. The base was hastily assembled. It seems this place was a one shot idea...for one massive attack." Lovecraft said.

"So I take it we have to fly down the..." Manel started.

"Actually, that won't be necessary. We know that the group is planning the major attack on the 28th. Five major Belkan cities are to be hit, but we don't know what. Now here's the kicker. The allies are planning a major attack into the Round Table that same day." said Kazama.

"So they sortie out the same day and they don't notice because of all the chaos. Clever." I added.

"So we intercpet them at B7R before they have a chance to get away? That sounds like a good plan." Sienna said.

"We'll have some help too from some Allied squadrons and we're gonna need it. These terrorists are not lazy in combat; they're deadly accurate." said Tsagi.

"And don't underestimate Underhill. He's got a few tricks up his sleeve. But we can't let any of them get away or we won't be able to stop them." Lovecraft added.

As I sat there and looked at the maps of all that was there, I thought that fate had led me here...and fate would lead me back to the Round Table. Fate would take me from the Round Table to victory then home. The attack was scheduled to jump off at noon on the 28th. It felt like the showdown scene in a Osean western movie.

Next Chapter: The Return to the Round Table


	18. The Return to the Round Table

Chapter 18: The Return to the Round Table

_**Revenge's Twisted Desire**_

We had no idea how in the world Underhill had manage to hide under the noses of allied and enemy command. But he would rooted out like the others. We decided not to wait for Underhill to show up; we were going to force him out of his hole. It was May 27th and it was early in the morning. The Round Table was very quiet that day. I'd spent the last few days getting to know my new allies.

Jocko was a real talkative guy, unlike his wingman Soryu who often kept to himself. Esmeralda was very knowledgeable in sports, strangely enough. I wasn't into sports that much, but she was a fanatic. Esmeralda was obsessed with baseball; she knew every fact there was. But I learned the most from Guinevere who I was paired with to patrol the Round Table that day. Sienna and Manel were on the other side of B7R, and Lovecraft's contingent was in the center.

"So you said you have a daughter?" she asked.

"Yeah. Name's Evey...named after my mother. But I still don't know if my parents got out of Obersalzburg."

"I can't believe Lancelot would do such a thing. What would drive a man with a family of his own to do something so deplorable? It was a completely selfish thing to do. I feel so sorry for his family…if they only knew what he did…" said Ella.

"I can't believe Harvey would have the guts to torture my wife, an innocent woman, for military information. I'm going to enjoy giving him the hard goodbye." I said.

"And we will...wait..." began Lovecraft.

"Dragon One, this is Johnny O. We've got a pair of planes taking off from the northern canyon."

"No way! We checked that canyon three times!" Jones said.

"Dietrich, I take it you can handle these two? We've got cruise missles incoming." said Lovecraft.

"Sure thing." I said.

We turned to the northwest and flew in the direction of the incoming enemies. Why only a pair of enemies would show up was beyond me. Suddenly, they came into view, rolling as one and separating before forming up again.

"Wait...those planes...Valencia!"

"Gawain to Mordred, look...the Princess has arrived. You've come all the way just for us. And your friend...I wonder if it's really the Widowmaker in that plane? I heard he turned over the other side." the leader said.

"You guess well. You're they guys that wasted Rafe aren't you?" I asked.

"Man put up a great fight...for all of two seconds." said Mordred.

"But now the numbers are even, and the odds greatly favor us." said Gawain.

"Sorry guys. This is the Round Table. There are no bragging rights here; only the living and the dead." I said.

"Well, it's going to be great place to put your tombstone. Our fallen brothers will be proud." Gawain said.

"Proud of murdering thousands of innocent people...your fallen brothers have only given you front row seats to Hell!" said Ella in defiance.

And with that, the fight jumped off. The two split and performed a 180 degree turn. We gave chase and I finally saw what the two planes looked like. They were and advanced model of the F/A-18 that I'd never seen before. However, they could not outrun us. They turned back into us and fired their missiles at the same time. I deployed chaff but Guinevere climbed straight up to avoid a radar lock. As the missile streaked past me, I dove and Mordred followed.

"Your plane may be advanced but I hold all the skill! Diving for the ground only makes this easier." he said.

I sharply climbed but he stayed with me aggressively. I crossed flight paths with Gawain who was chasing Tsagi.

"Our chance for revenge will not be denied! Our great leaders shall rain fire upon the land! Your father shall bleed tears of blood. I don't know how the others spent so long taking orders from a mere child." said Gawain.

"Are you completely insane? You were once a good friend to me...now I've got to kill you like the savage beast you've become!" said Ella.

Mordred doggedly pursued me. He was giving it everything he had. We continued to trade blow for blow, but I had yet to fire a missile.

"Dietrich, you better wrap this up quick! We've additional fighters on radar. Eight of them closing in at Mach 2." Jones said.

"Commander Harvey is coming for your blood. The Lady Angel of Blood if following behind." said Mordred.  
"Where's your real boss?" I asked.

"He's dead. We now rule the organization. He thought the jig was up, the Oseans had found us out. We will never be taken alive. We shall drag Belka with us to Hell!"

"You people are completely sick. It's sad what revenge can do."

"You are weak Ella. You don't have the guts to kill me! You may be a veteran of the Round Table, but your skills pale in comparison to those who live by conviction." said Gawain.

As we continued to twist and turned, I told Guinevere to dive. I saw her up in the air and I had an idea. She accelerated to full speed and I fell in behind her as she dove and I climbed. Gawain and Mordred were in hot pursuit.

"You can't escape-ahh!"

BOOM. We didn't even need to use any missiles at all. The two black knights had killed each other in an act of gross negligence. Guneivere was laughing uncontrollably...and so was I. But we could not rest on our laurels.

"Incoming! Twelve aircraft incoming hot!" said Kazama.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time!" said Lovecraft.

Despite all this, Ella was still laughing...apparently someone didn't like this.

"Laugh it up you . You got lucky! Only one side will leave the Round Table alive." said an angry Damien Harvey.

"I will avenge Seiko with your blood on my hands. As Hieirlark was his tomb, so will the Round Table be yours!" Nagase's voice said.

"It's Harvey and Nagase! Let's finish this!" I said.

_**Sky of Fire**_

"Eagle Eye, this Purple Dragon Leader, vector in some choppers to pick up any downed pilots. We are not letting one of these SOBs get away. Everyone else, get in there and take those terrorists down!"

"Roger. We've sent a wire to all nearby allied units. They should be inbound with in seven minutes." the AWACS said.

"Hurrah! Let's do this!" Jones said excitedly.  
As everyone formed up and began accelerating for the attack, missile alerts came in. The enemies were trying to stiff arm us with their long range missiles. But I knew that Harvey was a coward and would simply keep trying to stay out of our range. Nagase though, was a different story. She charged like a madwoman in our formation, firing missiles of her own. However we, as the veterans we were simply shook off these missiles. We all excelled in the "phone booth" as Lovecraft would say. If we could keep the enemy at close range, we could beat them in the dogfight. But a second long range missile volley forced most of us to release chaff. Still, we knew Harvey could launch at long range forever. Nagase still charged and we held our fire. Finally, Harvey decided to give up the long range fight and come to us. Jones opened with a pair of Sparrow missiles from his Phantom and Lovecraft did the same.(Lovecraft did go back to his old Phantom, I'll change that later) I fired my long range missiles at Harvey's contingent. Sienna opened with three missiles of her own. Nagase's group opened with a volley of radar missiles.

What happened next was reminiscent of the old battles where warriors swung swords at each other while running en masse into the enemy formations. All of our missiles either missed, hit or collided with another. One of Nagase's planes exploded in a bright flame. One missile exploded right next to Jones's airplane. One missile tracked Soryu's plane and he bravely turned against it but it still followed him. Harvey's group had closed in on us, but not after losing two of his planes to my missiles. Esmeralda took a shot at Harvey, but he simply shook it off. But I didn't know who to shoot down first, Harvey or Nagase.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to Aki!"

"That pathetic woman? It didn't take much to get her to talk. You know, I might pity her...if I wasn't anticipating killing you so much. I had four brothers on the Vigilance! All of them died on that ship! A whole generation of proud naval aviators is gone because of you Belkans. I shall rip a generation from you with fire!" said Harvey.

"You're a disgrace to the proud heroes of the sky!" I heard Ella say.

As I turned into Harvey, two of the Mammon squadron planes cut in from the east, but Guinevere checked it with an attack of her own. One missile shattered the plane and the other jinked the other way nearly hitting Harvey. Then Ella turned right with Nagase in hot pursuit; however, Harvey simply brake-checked and allowed me to get in front of him. Kazama had shaken off the missile that had been chasing him for so long and turned back into us.

"We got more targets coming in. Vector 070 at 70 miles; it's just four of them...wait...this group's acting strange. Dragon unit, there's a second group coming in from behind." said Eagle Eye.

"Our reinforcements have arrived...wait more enemies?" said one of the Scorpion squadron planes.

Naturally, the enemy had their additional units show up before ours. But a familiar set of voices would show up...and an unfamiliar set of planes showed up as well.

"There they are! We've found them!" said a familiar voice.  
"That Voice...isn't that Max?" Sienna said.

"It's the terrorists and the traitors all in one group." said another familiar voice. "Down all of them!"

"Hold on...that's Dora's voice? I thought he was dead!" Manel said.

"Forget them, deal with the terrorists first!"

As the fight continued, Harvey and I continued to trade advantage for disadvantage. Suddenly I saw a plane diving from above and out of the sun. Naturally, I dove from the sun to keep it out of my vision. But suddenly, Harvey broke off. I turned and saw a triangular plane diving down on him.

"This is Johnny, I got you covered." he said.

Harvey sharply climbed and Johnny followed. Suddenly, Sienna and Manel came in a pair as they were being followed by two Scorpion planes. I turned hard into them as they passed forcing one to break off. Meanwhile, Nagase and Ella continued their deadly dance. Lovecraft had turned into the incoming bandits and let loose a pair of radar missiles.

"That's one down!" he yelled as he sped away from the action.

"Belkan fighters approaching boss." one of the Scorpion pilots said.

"Damn...more interlopers. No matter."

I was not sure what happened, but it was apparent that Johnny O was hit.

"Ah! My wing's on fire!" he said.

"Get out of here Eight!" Lovecraft said.

"Don't worry about me. I'm alright."

"Johannes! Look out!"

Suddenly, another set of fighters came into view. They were painted gold and white. And they were planes I'd never seen before. It was a forward swept wing aircraft, but it looked nothing like Ella's fighter. Suddenly, one of the Scorpion planes came in to attack him. However, Sienna and Manel cut in and Sienna's missile shattered the enemy fighter. But suddenly, the enemy plane launched several missiles...backwards.

"Sienna...this changes nothing! You're still a spineless traitor." said Max.

Suddenly, Sienna's plane erupted with fire. Manel turned violently to avoid the missile but he couldn't shake it off. Finally, the missile exploded, damaging his fighter.

"No! Sienna! Get out of there!" I yelled upon witnessing the horrid damage.

Katze began laughing at the sight. His fighter passed next to her. But suddenly...

"Hey! Forgot something!" said Sienna, almost in a humorous manner.

Suddenly, all of Sienna's missiles rushed for Katze's airplane. He didn't even see it coming.

"What...ah!" he yelled.

Suddenly, what had been a super advanced fighter was now tumbling to the ground. The other planes following Max turned in, but Esmeralda and Lovecraft cut them off. Sienna struggled to limp the plane away...an unwise decision...but it didn't matter. Harvey had regrouped his squadron but suddenly he took the planes after Sienna.

"Finish her off!"

But suddenly, one fighter roared beneath me. It was Manel. I turned in but Nagase's sudden appearance forced me to turn hard to the right. But suddenly, something bizarre happened. As Harvey moved in for the kill...a fighter roared out of nowhere. It was Johnny O...

"Here's your fire you crazy...", and he collided with one of the enemy fighters.

"No! Johnny, NO!" shouted Esmeralda.

This forced the others to break off...giving me a perfect shot at Harvey. They were like ducks in a row as Manel and I fired several missiles at them. I only had one missile left, but Harvey had been dealt a deathblow. I saw Sienna eject and the Fulcrum crash to the earth.

"Damn you, Dietrich." was he said before he exploded. I breathed a sigh of relief. But it wasn't over quite yet...

"Hey...where'd Nagase go?" Manel asked.

"Ah...she disappeared again."

I noticed Max had suddenly taken off too with his new group. There were too many fighters to deal with. The last of the Scorpion planes were shot down by Esmeralda. She was grunting and yelling with anger.

"Johnny! Johnny!"

"Hey stop crying Kay! I'm still alive. You think I was going on a suicide mission or something?" Johnny said. I knew he was the dark humored type, but this was too much for Esmeralda.

"You scared the hell out of me! Don't ever do that again!" she said her voice breaking.

"Sienna? Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine...and I've got a present for you guys if I ever get picked up." she said after a brief pause.

"Don't worry, rescue's inbound." I said.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Sienna was still alive.

"This is Eagle Eye, allied units are inbound, the other craft are bugging out...wait a minute...We've got more bandits on radar. One group of fighters are closing and the other is behind them."

"Schwarze leader to all units. We have the two escaping craft on radar. Engage at will."

"Schwarze!" I said.

"What unlucky souls are they chasing now?" asked Lovecraft.

Suddenly, a pair of planes could be seen in the distance. They were keeping closely together. I hoped it was who I thought it was.

"Wait a minute...that flying style...Sayla...Freya is that you?!"

"Johannes! Thank god!! I see you didn't want to fight for lunatics anymore as well." Freya said.

I couldn't believe it. I was ecstatic when I found out they were in fact alive.

"I thought you two were dead!" Manel said.

"It's a long story that's about to be cut short if you don't help us get the Vulture off our goddamned tails!" Sayla said in her usual caustic tone.

"Roger. Hang on, we got you covered." Lovecraft said.

"That voice...it can't be...the other one that got away." Schwarze leader said.

"Zubov...it's been what, three years?" said Lovecraft.

"You know, I've been waiting for a chance to shut that mouth of yours..it seems that time is upon me." Zubov said to Lovecraft.  
"You and who's army?" I said in defiance. There was a bit of silence.

"Dietrich. So you've made it this far eh? And siding with a mercenary of all things. Well, it's time to do a little housecleaning!" he said.

Suddenly, eight long range missiles fired in a long line. Immediately after that, a second wave of missiles came in. And a third!

"Evade! Evade!" Jones yelled.

Just as the first missiles closed in, another wave of missiles materialized behind us. It was our reinforcements.

"Sorcerer One, Fox Three!"

"Espada One, Fox One!"

"Heartbreak One, Fox Three!"

The sky for a mere minute was filled with nothing but missiles. I moved to cover the incoming Migs that were being flown by our old friends. They no doubt wanted out. They had seen the fire and the horror of Obersalzburg. I was thankful they chosen correctly. However, I knew those nimble planes were far too vulnerable to such powerful missiles. I had to cut them off. But then I saw the inevitable. Both their planes were hit. Suddenly, Schwarze withdrew as quickly as they came.

"What the heck took you so long!?" Jocko asked angrily.

"I'd expected Bartlett to be late, but not you Alberto." said Lovecraft.

"Well...I got a little held up amigo." a heard a voice say.

"Gee I wonder if it had anything to do with a certain woman-anyway! Glad you guys showed up when you did." Lovecraft said.

"Well you know what they say, better late than never." one of the fighters said. I had no idea who these people were.

"Whatever. We got most of the rogues, but I think Nagase got away again." said Lovecraft.

"Damnit! I almost had her too. I think I damaged her though. Maybe she..." Ella began.

"This is Six. I have her handcuffed to my wrist! She's not going _anywhere_!!!" Sienna interrupted while laughing. "Hey...Johnny! Look who I got!"

"I can't believe this. We got it made in the shade now." Johnny said.  
"Woooooooo! You never fail us Sienna." Manel said.

We all started to laugh over this apparent dark comedy that had become our lives. For the first time in a long time, it felt good to be a winner.

"We'd better hurry up with the extraction. We might have more enemies coming in." Lovecraft.

I wondered if Sayla and Freya were okay. I heard nothing from them during the chaos of the battle.

By noon, we'd successfully picked up everyone including all the prisoners. Of course, why Sienna thought to bring handcuffs was one of those mysteries that I thought was not worth asking about. Sienna had to ride in the helicopter with all the captured pilots. She later said Nagase had spit in her face...Sienna slapped her in hers. We were glad that Nagase was in our hands. We did find Freya...but Sayla was nowhere to be found. There was little time to look as the enemy came back to reclaim airspace around B7R. We would have to fight to take it back.

We later found the secret base from which Underhill launched his planes. It turned out that it was a old Belkan base from the seventies that was built into the canyon walls. It was far ahead of its time. Underhill was found, but with a bullet in the head. The threat from the terrorists, for all intents and purposes, was negligible. But the war was not over and the only enemies we truly had left...were our old Luftwaffe comrades.

_**Casualties of War**_

_Fierce fighting is continuing today in the eastern sectors of Linz. Coalition troops are continuing to fight off what they are calling "savage resistance" even as the city burns. It has been confirmed that the Belkans have set fire to several factories and it is extremely dificult to maneuver inside the city. It is a labyrinth of death and destruction here. One Yuktobanian soldier called the central campaign a "decent into Hell". Right now we have no word on the coalition's progress into the city; however, there is good news today. We have confirmed that several members of a rogue organization that has claimed responsibility for the horrific firestorms in Obersalzburg, Bergesgaden and Thalem have been captured all over the front. We've learned that Yuktobanians were also involved and we have scattered reports that one of the leaders was captured alive today in Ustio by a mercenary organization..._

The same reporter who had braved the massive heat of Obersalzburg was continuing to report the chaos as it unfolded. It was interesting seeing war from this perspective. My war in the air was impersonal. I could imagine what it was like for those on the ground.

"You're watching the news?" Jones asked while he was coming into the ready room.

"Yeah. Wow, such a disaster...I still can't watch it. That woman is a brave one." I said.

Jones then went on to tell me that reporter I listened to all the time was in fact his wife, the mysterious "Piper" that was on his fighter. Afterwards, Lovecraft came in and they joked about each other's wives. Jones made a comment that Lovecraft's wife was "scared of everything". It was rather humorous.

"You know I was thinking yesterday," said Lovecraft, going into a serious tone. "Would I want my son doing this for a living? I took him to see my plane before the war started and that's all he wants to do is fly. But I don't want him to be a pilot. I don't even want him near planes. He's too young to understand the grim reality of war. Well, that's only if reaches the scale and ferocity it has now. His name's David. He'll be nine years old on June 6th."

Suddenly Kay entered the room.

"Hey! Good news! They found your other friend but...she's a little messed up. You might want to take a look at this." she said.

All of us walked into the room and saw Sayla, or was left of her. Her left eye was completely destroyed. There were casts over her body with blood next stains bleeding through them. She had a deadpan look on her face. Freya sat there next to her.

"Holy...is she alright?" I asked her.

"She's gonna make it. That ejection really did her in." she said.

It was then I had completely forgotten how close the two were. They were lovers in war and in peace and like on the battlefield one would not leave the other's side. In my opinion, they were the real "coupled cormorants".

"So how in the world did Johnny not sustain injuries of this nature...and she does?" I asked, looking at O and then looking at Sayla.

"Simple. For years Johnny was insisting on a slower speed ejection seat. He tested it himself after he was hit back in the Round Table a year ago. It was deemed totally unsafe by modern safety standards, but apparently it works. That was his fourth ejection without spinal injury." said Kay.

I asked Sayla if she was alright, which was sort of a stupid question; I could see how she looked.

"Well, I just wanted to say thanks for giving me a second chance. You were a real friend when I needed one. It's too bad Max didn't think the same way. Tried to gun me down but I got away. I don't know what happened to him." she said.

"When we ejected after we both lost oil pressure and all our power, thanks to that Yuke woman's friend, we came out over the Mielen Chemical Plant just outside of Obersalzburg. I saw our own bombers emerge from the sky and bomb the plant into nothing. I just sat there and cried. Everything I knew was going up in flames." she said traling off. She paused for a moment, then looked me square in the eye.

"When I told Max this when I came back, do you know what he said to me. He said this and I quote. _We have to do what we have to do._ At what cost!? They didn't even bother to evacuate the place! This war's become one big tragedy. And it's not going to stop. They've called up the party's own elite infantry and air units. And it seems Max may have joined them." said Freya.

"Ah crap...they've called up the Dinsmark Division. Man, it's going to get really nasty now." Lovecraft said.

"Dinsmark Division?"

"Yeah. Those guys are goddamned crazy. That's the reason I left. They are completely loyal to the party. It's not just an infantry division; they also have two fighter squadrons, Ofnir and Grabacr. I used to be a WSO in Grabacr. I don't know whose worse...Grabacr or Schwarze. They are not actually an official military unit. It's more like a secret police force to be used in dire emergencies. Of course, now they've probably been sent to the front lines." said Kay.

"What did they do to make you leave?" I asked.

"I saw the way they put down an uprising against in Nord Belka in '94. They just carpet bombed the entire community with firebombs. The party said it was a brush fire that got out of control. That was my town. And the leader jested at it saying, 'Too bad we got to torch your hometown...oh well. They should have damn better known better.'" she said sadly.

I was shocked. No one had ever herad of such a thing. I remember that there was a fire in Lucient, but I had no idea it was the result of an uprising.

"Grabacr, eh? I remember them. I was in their squad for a bit when the party took over. This guy named Ashley Bernitz came into run it. The man was a fanatic of the new party. However, I got an offer to join Indigo and I took it. But I'd had it with new party and got out when I could. It seems my claims were validated." Lovecraft said.

"Are they all deployed all over Belka, or are they in spot?" Jones said.

"Well, knowing them they'll set up around Sudentor and the Waldreich Mountains." Kay said.

"So are we doing the thing tomorrow?" Jones asked.

"No, we've got orders to stand by. The rest of the allies are pushing up anyway. But after B7R is secured, we're heading north for Sudentor to neutralize Belkan resistance in Aachen and Oder."

Aachen was a city that was about a hundred miles southwest of Sudentor. I expected the resistance to be nothing short of extremely high. But if this was what needed to be done to end the war, that's what we had to do. However, the Round Table beckoned us with a rather surprising encounter...

_Next Chapter: An Old Friend  
_


	19. An Old Friend

Note: I've edited the introduction of this fic, chapters 1, 4, 7, 9, and 18. This was mostly done to shorten up conversations, fix a continuity error or two, and mainly to fix some minor grammatical errors. I'm also preparing to write another fanfic of the same sort of format from the Osean standpoint.

Chapter 19: An Old Friend

_I always like to know everything about my new friends, and nothing about my old ones. - Oscar Wilde_

As we were to be on stand by for the upcoming Operation Battleaxe, as it was called, Sienna decided to take the plane that Lovecraft stole from Obersalzburg. It had been a long time since she'd been in it, but a few flights quickly put her back into the groove. "O" got his hands on an older F/A-18 Hornet. It was a very strange time. Here I was on the other side, and here I was seeing the war from another set of eyes. I knew they were angry with us, but they were generally good people. But struck me as odd as they were just like us. But the war itself was not against my people. Governments start wars and people die in them. I would have stayed on our side, had it not meant being ordered to destroy our own land. And this was even before the Hoffnung incident.

I knew what drove Max now. I knew he wanted my blood as he viewed me leaving as the greatest betrayal of all. But one had to draw the line somewhere. It was something that he could not grasp. I didn't want to know what was in his head though. I knew delusions of grandeur had filled his mind. He was prone to this before, and I knew him very, very well. I only wondered when we'd come face to face again. At this point, it was clear that the Belkans were on the losing side of the war. Anyone could see that. I wondered what drove the pilots there to keep fighting. I suppose my circumstances were much more unusual. There were my doubts, but I remembered something Aki said once before._ What is done cannot be undone. _I remembered that I was fighting this war for them. And even though I was on the other side, I was still fighting for them. I could only hope that she and my little girl were okay. So I went back into action, hoping to bring everything to a close. But, it would not be easy. Two events would occur on the same day: one was only a mere chance encounter...the other was a surprise that spoke for itself.

_**The Spider's Web**_

Our break on the 28th was cut short when we got a scramble alert. Apparently what was going on at the Round Table was going to be our business after all. The Allied forces assaulting the Round Table were taking heavy losses and reinforcements were needed as soon as possible. It was high noon when we managed to get to the area; a huge air battle was raging. It seemed rather reminiscent of the old western movies. The Round Table was just as it was...with the exception of what seemed like a million planes in the air. But, then again, for a veteran...it was nothing new. I was not shocked by this. Neither were the others. Suddenly...

"There's a large scale battle in B7R. Get over there and provide cover." the AWACS said.  
"Time to dive into the fireworks." one of the planes responded. But as I looked around I couldn't see immediately who could have said that.

We were flying to the extreme east of several allied forces en route, when suddenly two planes, one being an F-15 with brown camouflage and the other F-15 with a single red wing, flew right past us.

"A single Red Wing? Wait a minute...I've heard of this pilot." Sienna said. I remembered it too. Though I never thought I'd see it in person.

"Well, well, well, look who's here. The Galm team arrives...fashionably late as usual." Lovecraft.

"Then why are you running late too, Lovecraft?" one of the pair asked.

"Pixy, you never change." Lovecraft said.

The two planes rocketed off into the distance, with a third plane, an F-16, following them.

"I think we should stay to the west and come in from behind. I got a bad feeling about this." Kazama said.

"You have a bad feeling about everything! You had a bad feeling about the coffee this morning!" Johnny said.

"Who were those guys anyway?" Sienna asked.

"These two? That's our old war buddy Soren. Or Cypher as they call him. The other's named Solo Wing Pixy. They say he landed that plane he's got with one wing." said Lovecraft.

"Wow...such skill they have." Guinevere noted.

"Ah, he's just in it for the money anyway. Cypher on the other hand is one those rare guys who actually believes in something." Jones said.

"Wait...there's something...strange on radar. It keeps fading in and out..." Ella said.

I wasn't sure what it was either. I could see clearly that there was something to the left of us. But the signature was fading. My only hypothesis was that it was some kind of radar jamming. It could not have been a specific type of specialized jamming plane. We would have noticed it sooner. But the signature was closing fast.

"We got unknown craft incoming at about 270." I said.

This got everyone looking left, but nothing was there. There were a few fighters there in front of him. Suddenly, the sky lit up with explosions right in front of us. I immediately pulled the stick back and could barely keep the airplane level as the sky rumbled with the bursting explosions. I put the nose back down and saw Sienna's plane fly just past my mine...and there was nothing in front of us.

"What the hell was the that!? It was like the whole sky exploded!" she shouted.

Then I looked on the radar and the three targets disappeared. Then suddenly, it happened again on a smaller scale. I then only noticed something that I wouldn't have even seen if I hadn't looked up. There were three planes of unknown origin approaching as from above. It didn't take long to know who it was. The planes screamed past us and flew below into the valley, only to turn back into us, firing their missies and splitting our formation apart. I had pushed the plane upwards, then I saw Ella's faster, more maneuverable plane push past me and leveled out as I did. I looked over my shoulder and saw a glimpse of that strange craft again. I made my evasive maneuvers...waiting for the pilot to confirm my suspicions.

"Surprised!? I knew you'd come; no better place than B7R to make your burial arrangements!" said the familiar voice of Max.

Max was running his own squad now. He always wanted to run his own show. But I had no interest in talking to him and neither did Ella. There was no point in trying to come to an agreement. There was only a time to fight. We could see the trio of planes; they were the same forward swept wing aircraft we'd seen before. I managed to get a better look at it. Each tail fin was folding towards the other. Ella said nothing; she was shocked into silence. It looked nothing like Ella's craft. And it was like a blade in the sky, moving effortlessly through the molecules of air.

"It's a shame you left buddy. You could have had these. We are producing dozens of these planes and there's no better place for a test run than here!" Max taunted.

Again, I had no interest in talking to him. It was clear he'd come to kill me; to kill all of us. The shoe had been on the other foot for some time, but now I had to use it and kick Max out of the sky. I really didn't want to fight him, but I had no choice. Suddenly, the strange enemy planes split to engage us, but then they withdrew into a defensive formation. I fired three of my long range missiles at the trio but all of them missed. Suddenly, one of them released the same countermeasure I had used before. It was the bright flashing light source that tricked heat seeking missiles into tracking it.

"What is that light?" asked Esmeralda. I knew that the others had no knowledge of this invention.

"Get close with your guns, your IR missiles won't track them if they're in front of it!" I said.

Suddenly, Jones and Lovecraft closed into the trio of fighters hanging around the light. Apparently, Max thought I would have been dumb enough to fall for the same trick I once used. His ruse having failed, he immediately climbed to higher altitude almost instantly. I was amazed at the maneuverability of this mysterious airplane. Then I remembered something...no one else could turn with these fighter except me. These were advanced fighters of a unusual nature. They fired missiles that could make the sky erupt with flames. This was not a good situation; but I would find that Lovecraft's statement was true. Sometimes in order to win, one had to recall words of wisdom and everything you ever learned. Of course, some luck is involved as well. But the most important thing of all, was that there was always someone you could count on to have your back...

_**The Price of Overconfidence**_

I began to turn with the other enemy airplanes. Fortunately for me, they seemed more preoccupied with me. The other two began firing missiles at me. When I got the IR alert, I deployed flares and performed an split-S back into them...but they were nearly out of my sight, they'd turned so fast. Suddenly, Sienna cut in and she was gunning for Max. The second plane climbed straight up with Sienna in pursuit. But the second plane had peeled off to provide cover and I fell in behind him, and suddenly Sienna pulled back looping over the third one as I chased him. However, she had put on the afterburner and we both popped out of the smoke. We both continued to dance with the enemy, then suddenly Manel cut in, but were constantly being turned into by the enemy planes. This was becoming a serious problem. We couldn't maneuver properly with our planes. These things far outclassed what we had.

"Ha! Is this all the mighty coalition can produce?" Max jested.

Another set of explosions went off in the sky. This time, the explosions were far closer and we all had to take more evasive maneuvers. Ella crossed paths with me and nearly collided into me. I could see that she had some damage to her craft. There was a little smoke trailing her. Of course, we had a surprise of our own. Lovecraft and Jones had hid far beneath us. Their slower aircraft were wisely staying out of the fight...or so it was thought. We were twisting and turning at about 25,000 feet.

"There's another craft on radar coming from behind us. All right, keep em on you! We're gonna take em from behind!" said Lovecraft.

"Don't worry. I'm inbound to help." said a rather familiar voice. I remember my eyes popped open when I heard it. I was music to my ears.

"Freya! What are you doing here?" Sienna asked.

"I have some...unfinished business with your old friend." she simply said. It was clear to me that she was referencing Sayla. "Max, you've got much to answer for! If it's with a missile, so be it."

"Freya Lanne. Well, well...I'll have another chance to sanitize you from the sky...but you're not even worth the effort. Dietrich's my main course. You two, dispose of this trash." said Max, communicating with his other wingmen.

"Roger. Hey...what the..."

As they prepared to turn into Freya's plane...Lovecraft contingent of older planes pounced on the super-advanced fighters. They had been so low and Max had been so focused on me that he forgot all about Lovecraft's contingent of drastically inferior planes. They had managed to get close enough and fired off a volley of heat seeking missiles that knocked one of the fighters down almost instantly.

"Dammit!" Max said, cursing his lapse into stupidity. We had regained the initiative almost instantly. I could predict what he was thinking. And it made me laugh. I only hoped he had some sensible fiber in him.

"How about that...a couple of billion dollar aircrafts down the drain!" said Jones.

Lovecraft had suddenly turned the tables on Max. Max was shocked at the current turn of events, but he was hell-bent as ever to kill us.

"Damn you! Your surprises won't save you though!" he said.

Suddenly, two of the slow-firing burst missile screamed . The other planes prepared to launch those missiles as well. One turned right into me and was preparing to shoot one right at me when...

"Launchi...ah!"

Suddenly, the third plane erupted into flame...he'd forgotten about Freya. She screamed right above me and she had been using me for the bait. She quickly moved to my left. It was no different from any other combat scenario. They were paying a deadly price for their over-reliance on technology. But immediate problem still faced us. I could see Max jumping back out and firing another set of those missiles.

"Dive!" I shouted. If the burst missiles destroyed everything below it, the general idea was to go high, but if we were under the umbrella, the only way to go was down. Suddenly, the missiles erupted with an exploding ferocity unlike any I've seen before. The sky shook above us forcing us to the deck. But I made an oversight of my own, Max.

Suddenly, I dove for the surface and he doggedly pursued. But then I pulled up and did a somewhat unwise maneuver. He fired a missile at me as we dove, but I didn't notice the ground. I pulled up hard and did something unusual and it was something that would not work twice. The IR missile was coming in for me with Max closing in fast. I then noticed he was close. So I pulled up on the throttle and slowed; then climbed dropping flares. I noticed that it got him off of me. As I slowed, he passed right by me, but the intense heat of his engines coupled by his proximity to me caused a very bizarre event to occur. The missile looped back around, losing the flares and was following the intense heat of Max's fighter. To my amazement...he was being chased by his own missile!

"What the...I can't...how the...!" he stammered out.

His panic caused him to go quickly insane...and suddenly Max had a damaged expensive plane. And just as quickly as the battle began, it ended.

"I can't believe this! These planes were supposed to be perfect!" he said in sheer anger while going down. Suddenly, he began to regain control...and Max took off into the horizon trailing smoke. It was a quick and rather shameful ending to Max's dreams of a new squadron. He'd been defeated by a clever amount out luck, teamwork, skill and sheer passion for an end to the terrible struggle that he was continuing to fight. It was clear to anyone with sense that it wasn't worth fighting for anymore. Perhaps it was that part of him that forced him to run away. I knew it still existed, but there was no point in bringing it out. I only hoped we'd never meet again.

"That was nothing short of magnificent. It was fast, effecient and utterly masterful." Freya said to me.

"Thanks. I didn't do it alone though." I replied.

"I just hope he never shows his face again. We'll just kick him back onto the horizon, another victory for the Violet Dragon and his comrades." said Johnny, rather cocky...but rightfully so.

"If this keeps up, I won't even need that name anymore." Lovecraft replied to Johnny's emphatic statement.

"That's right, the war will be over and we'll be going home." Jones said.

"It's been one interruption after another for us." said Kay.

"What do you mean?" Freya asked.

"Oh, well, Mr. O and his lovely wingman have been trying to get hitched for what...six months?" replied Jones.

"A little less than that; but yes, we've been trying for some time." Johnny said.

"Aw...how sweet." Sienna said.

We had cleared our sector and most of the enemies were gone by the time we arrived back at the center. Galm Team had gone as well. Of course, leave it our gaunt skinned genius to tell us the obvious.

"Most of the Belkans are retreating from the Round Table now. We've won. One less battle we have to fight to go home." said Sienna.

"Man...what a day." said Lovecraft.

"Where'd you get that fighter by the way?"

"I 'borrowed' it from some guy I knew...it's a long story." Freya said.

I decided to drop it the issue. The others did too. It was better not knowing. We slowly began to withdraw from the Round Table. Galm Team had done their part to scatter the planes there, and the battle ended. It was enough for us as we had to deal with rather unorthodox enemy aircraft. But we reminded ourselves that this war wasn't against Belka, it was against the people who ordered us to destroy our own country to keep it out of the hands of the allies. But we were alive, and thus, we put it out of our minds for this period of time. Why would think about it? Especially with what happened next.

"Is Sayla doing fine?" I asked.

"Yes, she's doing much better. They're having a hard time keeping her in the med station." Freya said.

"That's Sayla for you. She is just incorrigible." I said.

There was a long pause. Then something strange occurred. Manel wanted Sienna to switch over to a secure UHF channel. But he forgot that we all still hear it.

"Hey umm...Sienna? I know that it's been awhile since we've really been...out to do anything. But I want to ask you something. This means a lot to me." Manel asked.

"What? What is it? Are...you asking me what I think you are? Because if you are, then...I'm just...speechless. I am without speech. Is it? Is it really that question? Then if you are, then yes! Yes, yes, yes!

We all started laughing. In a rather strange fashion, Manel asked Sienna to marry him and like all such climactic moments she said yes and the rest was history. Of course it was strange. That was the first and probably the last air to air wedding engagement I'd ever seen. I wished I could have seen the look on her face. I remember when she finally landed, she got out of the cockpit with her skin just bright red when she discovered we'd heard all the lovely details. Now the only thing now was to wrap up all the loose ends before the war could finally end. But there were too many people that wanted to drag the war out.

And Max was one of them. We all were at some point. I knew what was important. I wanted to see Aki and Evey again. Manel and Sienna were getting married. O and Kay were as well, and they were more urgent about it. Lovecraft wanted to return to his family. Jones had two worries: his own life and his wife's life as she put her life on the line too being a reporter. Elle wanted to get out the air force forever and separate herself from war. Kazama wanted to go home to Anea. So we had to step lightly and not take any more risks. The end of the war was in sight. There was too much to lose.

But in order for the war to end, there would have to death on an unprecedented scale. It would occur in one infamous place on one infamous date. I would return to the place my war started, the place I knew so well and the place I trained for weeks; the Waldreich Mountains.

_Next Chapter: Demon of Waldreich_


	20. Demon of Waldreich

Chapter 20: Demon of Waldreich

_Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes. - Voltaire_

_**The Second Reunion**__  
_  
June 6, 1995. Allied forces were fighting all over the Waldreich Mountains, on the ground and in the air. Several teams of allied planes were assigned the task to clearing the skies over the region. At last I had returned. I had returned to the place where four long months ago my war truly began. How well I remembered it. The Waldreich Mountains stretched from Sudentor to the edges of North Belka. The trees were old and seemed to stretch forever. It was lush and full of life. We were only a stone's throw away from the chaos that engulfed the city. The Demon of the Round Table, as they were calling Cypher, moved over Stier Castle while we in Dragon Team moved further down the river to catch any bombers or planes forming up. The landscape was beautiful and it was set against the sun reflecting the light into the clouds, giving them an orange glow of sorts. I remembered flying over the place once before. It felt so wonderful the first time I went out here. It made all the struggles worth it seeing this place. But we were not here to take in the sights. We had a war to end.

We were flying in a wide formation and there did not seem to be any sense of urgency...at the time. To my immediate right was Sienna, to my immediate right was Ella. Above me was O, who simply loved to just hang around above people. Behind us was Lovecraft, Jones, Kazama, and Kay, who was in the process of climbing to Orgesa's height. No one said much during the trip as it was rather uneventful. The only excitement was Kay and Johnny arguing about their favorite baseball teams' chances to win it all back in Sapin. They were always obsessed with that sport. I remembered that I never truly focused on talking about other things while flying. On long flights, such chit-chat was necessary. But my focus was the reason I was still alive. I focused on the mission rather on baseball. Of course, the inverse was a fallacy. "They" talked about random things all the time...and they were still alive. We were all alive. And in this calmness, we had a quiet confidence and happiness. The war would soon come to an end.

"It's too bad there's a war on. Aki would love this place." I said.

"I might move here after this is over." Ella said.

"This is strange...I've got nothing on my radar in this sector." Jones said, breaking the carefree flight.

"Should some of us go back and help out the Galm Team?" Kazama asked, flying in.

"No. We'll stay here for now. We might be getting some company soon." said Lovecraft.

"Eagle Eye to Dragon Team. We've picked up a single bandit on radar. Stay on guard, this radar signature is strange."  
"It can't be..." I said.

Suddenly, the radar signature continued to come forward...and faster. It had no doubt seen us. There was a strange feeling in my soul. It was almost as it knew who was coming...but my mind was tricking me into thinking that it was some other aberration.

"That plane...it almost looks like-" Kazama began.

Suddenly, a large orange light suddenly ripped across the center of the sky. I looked to my left...and Kazama was no longer there.

"Soryu! Soryu respond!" Lovecraft asked frantically.

"What the hell was that?! It...just vaporized him!" said Kay in a mixture of worry, sadness, and confusion.

The sudden turn of events shocked everybody obviously. The blur in the distance continued to stay out of our attacking range. Its strange radar signature was making impossible to track it proper. Radar missiles were out of the question. It was no mistaking it now. But another immediate problem arose...something far more serious. Galm and Crow Teams had been informed of something extremely disturbing.

"This is Eagle Eye, we've got incoming bombers to the east. Get over there and provide support. We think they may be carrying nuclear weapons!" said the AWACS. This sent everyone into a absolute panic.

"What?! No way!" Jones said in disbelief.

"Incoming!" Johnny said.

Another beam of light ripped past me. I quickly broke left and looked into the distance. There were no words said for the moment. Then, a strange voice came over my specific channel.

_What took you so long?_ I knew that voice like no other. The way it spoke. It seemed almost mechanical...but I knew it was him. Max was back again.

"Lovecraft, everyone else, go deal with the bombers. It's Max...I know he's come back but its me he wants." I said.

"What are talking about? Are you crazy?" he said.

_Of course I want you. Why else would I have waited here?! _I heard the warped voice of Max say over the comms. But there were other problems at hand.

"Just go! Deal with the nukes if they have them! Don't worry about me! Worry about the others!" I said. That, for the most part, put all doubt to silence. I heard nothing but the seemingly sad Sienna Blutarch who said what she probably thought would be her last words to me.

"Good luck." she said; and that was it.

As everyone flew away, I flew towards the horizon. In the distance I saw the plane. I did not fly in a straight line but I managed to catch of glimpse of the advanced plane I'd seen so many times. But I did not know it could use such advanced weaponry. During this time, I picked up on the conversations...there were indeed planes carrying nuclear bombs in the area. The others could deal with them. I had faith in their abilities. I decided that this would my final trial and mine alone. Max had come back for one more round.

_**The Final Round**_

"So, here we go again. I'll hand it to you buddy; you're a hard man to kill. But I will not let you stop us. It's just me and you now. And you are the reason we have to do this." Max said. He'd broken his strange comms. He talked on an open channel now.

Suddenly, another orange glow erupted from his fighter. Again, he missed me as I moved to the left to avoid it. But something told me he was intentionally missing. He was trying to intimidate me. But I would not back down.

"Do what? Destroy everything?!" I said while passing by his fighter. I sped back out and turned towards him. He continued to fly out towards the horizon. I then only saw a small speck of him there.

"They will not get our land! Not while I still live! And we will scorch the ground with nuclear fire if we have to." he said.

"You're no hero! You want to turn your home into a wasteland!? What you want doesn't exist anymore!" I shouted at him.

"Belka will be free of the allies' grasp. They will no longer exploit us!" Max shouted back.

"I don't know if you're a soldier or a lunatic anymore." I said. I spied him from nearly a mile away now. He was turning back into me in a rather slow fashion. Then, he began to increase his speed.

As he did, I heard him say it. It was the point of no return. _Soldier or not, lunatic or not...only one of us is walking away alive. _

And with that, our fight began. I broke left as he cut right. He read my moves well. I dove and he fired a single missile at me. In response I let loose some chaff, with only two remaining. I cut left again and spiraled to the ground as he let loose that massive laser. He was moving in fast. I brake-checked him and pulled up forcing him in front of me. I let loose several cannon shells without result. He simply shook them off and made a sharp turn right. He dipped the plane to go lower and I prepared to do the same thing. But he climbed straight up, got the power down and got behind me. I performed a split-S and came down as another blast of that massive laser ripped above me and shook the airplane. Suddenly, as I climbed again, there was a sudden flash across my eyes.

It blinded me and I tried to right the airplane. As I regained my vision, time seemed to slow to a crawl. And then, a gigantic rumbling all around. I saw those plumes of smoke that were the mushroom clouds. My communications were gone. But I suddenly regained my composure. I couldn't let myself be distracted by the tragedy below. I'd committed to the battle to keep an merciless enemy off the backs of my friends. I couldn't exactly make out the confusing transmissions. But they were in place considering the sudden change in events.

"This is Eagle Eye, damage report..."

"What the...was..."

"The whole...just...this huge blast, what the..."

"Where did they...?"

"I thought we...!"

I turned and fired a heat seeking missile. As Max came down the missile turned and tracked on to him...and hit him. It was a wise decision to put on heat seekers, but the missile only scratched the fighter. In was clear that the others had failed to stop the bombers. I could thank my lucky stars that Aki was not anywhere near this hell.

"...My laser's gone but...other weapons left to..." he said, his radio cutting in and out.

Suddenly, three missiles were fired in my direction. Why his radar was still working and mine was not, I had no idea. I could not evade these missiles. I knew he was tracking me with his semi-active tracker. I could hear the laughter through his fuzzy communications. The sky was suddenly getting cloudy. I dove and Max followed. A bridge was right in my flight path as I dove into the valley. I flew under and looped over it, leveling out my airplane and fired a missile at him. This forced him to break and deploy flares; subsequently the radar lock was gone. He broke and descended right into the canyon we'd practiced in so long ago.

The trees around the gorge were like spikes on a wall. I flew through this canyon many times before. I knew it like the back of my hand. And so did Max; he was doing a masterful job of maneuvering through the canyon. He pulled the Cormorant trick and fired a missile back at me. I deployed flares and pulled up out of the canyon then I dove right back on him. But the turns and terrain meant attaining a missile lock was impossible. We continued to chase each other through the canyon. Now I slowly slipped back into the persona of the hunter. The fangs were out for one last time. It had been quite awhile since they came out...but I needed them once more. I had to be the killer. I had to get back to my family. I had to end this!

He fired at the rock bed and made it collapse. It was just like that event in Verusa so long ago...but I was not going to try anything crazy. I simply flew out of the canyon. Suddenly, he flew right out, flew right past me and turned directly into me. Communications were still fuzzy. We flew back and forth into each other playing deadly games of chicken. I was not sure if what I said got through, but in the end it didn't matter.

"Why do you keep fighting for those who would do something like this?" I said.

"It's all I have left...just like you!" Max responded.

"Take a good long look at what allowed to happen! Is that was you really wanted?" I said.

"There's no turning back old friend. I sometimes wish it could be...But...no other way. One of us is going to die and get a ticket to hell." he concluded coldly.

I came back towards him firing my cannons and damaging his airplane again. He did the same as several hit my wing. I quickly turned back into him and suddenly he fired a missile high into the air. I knew what it was; the slowly firing missile rose upward. I suddenly dove for the ground and suddenly a bursting set of explosions filled the sky raining down shrapnel. We both moved to the ground at maximum speed. I guessed he had run out of missiles as he only fired his guns at me. He yelled with a maniacal fervor. He was determined to kill me; I was determined to stay alive. Suddenly, I slowed my airplane and pushed the nose down...and he roared back in front of me. With a long squeeze, the subsequent cannon shells tore his airplane apart...but it still flew, even as it was on fire. It was a pathetic sight. He turned his airplane to face me and I flipped over his. It was over. There was a brief moment of silence after that. I turned back to see him drift from thousands of feet in the air.

"...Your wife may deserve a coward after all. But, you deserve to walk away from this one. So long." he said simply said. I wasn't sure if it was some form of respect, but I left it where it stood.

I pulled up sharply, turned and saw the plane rapidly descending to the ground. It was hard to see the ground as it was covered by clouds of smoke and mist. I couldn't tell if he ejected or not. And it was over. The last of the battles had been fought. I simply looked at the horizon and stared for a long time at it. I only knew my vector so I flew toward it and along the river. The only thing I could see was mist...constant mist. The sunlight was obscured and it felt like I'd past into the afterlife. I kept my distance from those clouds of radiation, or at least, where I thought they were.. Then in the distance I could see my other friends fighting off the last of the enemy. I headed back over to help. But by the time I got there the enemy was long gone...

"All surviving units, report in." said Lovecraft.

"This is O. Everyone seems to be okay...except for everyone on the ground." he said, almost struggling to find words.

"What...what were they thinking? Is there going to be nothing left after this?!" Sienna said.

"Unbelievable...we should have. We should have stopped them! We could have but we didn't! We should have been faster, I should have..." Esmeralda said.

"Should have, would have, could have...but didn't. We couldn't do anything about the ones that were dropped. Just be thankful that only a few exploded." Jones said pragmatically.

"But did anyone see anyone drop anything? We destroyed all the bombers...were they decoys?"

"Cipher? You alright? Where's Pixy?" asked Lovecraft.

"I don't know. He just disappeared." Said Johnny.

"That's strange...where'd they go?! Could they have been...?" started Jones. There was no way to locate them. The radar was out of commission and communications were sketchy. No one spoke for some time as we began to turn away and fly home.

"I can't believe this. Look at all this destruction!" said Manel.

"Well...I guess we should count our blessings ladies and gentlemen. We just lived through the closest thing to the end of the world we're going to get..." Jones said.

"For what? So we can go home and tell our families, _Hey, we saw the Belkans vaporize thousands of their own people...and __**we let it happen!**_" said Johnny angrily.

"I can't look...it's just too much." Sienna said, her voice choking.

"After this war's over I'm never flying on a combat mission ever again. Ever." Lovecraft said.

"If I went home and got in this jet in peacetime, I'll never forget what these eyes have seen." said Ella.

The Belkan War had already become a cruel, horrible war. But it now reached apocalyptic proportions. To go any further would have certainly meant the destruction of what was left of Belka. A line had been drawn in the Waldreich Mountains. There was none amongst us who did not think this would go unremembered. On the return trip back, no one said anything until we crossed over the Round Table one final time. Sienna said something about it; it could be no more correct.

"Only ghosts will remain here and ours as well, for we died here as well."

_**The Aftermath**_

The war ceased over night. The bombs were the proverbial exclamation point of the entire deadly affair. 12,000 people were vaporized in one last desperate act. Everything came to a screeching halt. The remaining garrison in Sudentor surrendered some hours after it occurred. It was one event that had no neutrals. What could one say? Everyone in the world stood in silent shock; every civilian, pilot and soldier in South Belka regardless of nationality...most of all. On June 20, 1995, a peace agreement was reached. Thus, the war was officially over.

It had cost billions of dollars and many people had lost their homes and their way of life in the terrible, sweeping battles. Many lives from all sides were lost. Never again would there be a war of this scale. And it was only the beginning of a long and never-ending winter that would consume South Belka.

The first signs of it occurred the day after my fight with Max. Reporters made note of when the temperature began to drop. It would only take a few days for the entire land began to feel it. Perhaps this was something "they" wanted, to make our people suffer for its failure to do the impossible. I was only lucky I saw the truth before things went even further into hell. But the hatred this war created was unimaginable. There were times that I simply stood in shock of the monster that everyone that on some level in Belka, Osea, Ustio, Yuktobania, Sapin, and elsewhere helped to create. The world simply said, enough. But that was only temporary. The warrior's battlefield went silent, but the political one was heated. And a war of words began for our country's resources for many months; to the victor go the spoils as always. But as many thought, Osea won out and South Belka was occupied by their forces. Most of the people there did not protest this. Why would they? It could have been worse.  
When the war finally came to end, there was no celebration. No rejoicing for me. We were simply glad to have our lives. With the end of the Belkan War came the end of Section Three; disbanded, as they were no longer needed. Elements were kept together for peacekeeping, but most of us were dispensable...and so it went. So it was that Johnny O and Kay Oppenheimer returned to Sapin, Lovecraft and Jones returned to Hierlark, Ella returned to Yuktobania, and Manel, Sienna, Freya and Sayla returned to what was left of Obersalzburg. All that there was for me was a long and arduous trip to find my family.

I hitched several rides through Sapin and finally wound up in the extreme south edge of South Belka. I bummed several more rides to Munich and Lansburg. I walked to Wizebierg and hot wired an old abandoned truck to make the last of the two hundred miles to Koingsburg, but had to walk last 30 miles since the truck gave out on me. It took me several days. All along the way Allied troops were passing by me and they had their own jeers and horrid foul language to spit at me. It was a rather dishonorable end to this career. Along the way, I got a canteen thrown at my head by passing infantry unit. At the time, I thought my flying days were over. That action was merely an affirmation.

All I could see were ruined buildings in the towns I passed through. Finally I found a kind face. About ten miles from Konigsburg, a car pulled up beside me. In it was a sunglasses-wearing female officer and another gentlemen of about equal rank. She asked me where I was going and I told her. So she said, "Hop in," and I did. She didn't say much about her, but I could tell three things. She was a Yuke intelligence, recon, and target acquisition officer. She was either a captain or a major, since I couldn't understand Yuke insignia. And her name was Nastasha and I only knew that since the other officer said her name.

Lovecraft had told me that he found out that Aki had been in the hospital for some time. But she was no doubt better by when I returned...as I hoped. I was shot several dirty looks by troops there. After all, I was still sporting my old flight uniform. Koingsburg was dramatically different from when I left it all those months ago. There were allied personnel everywhere. When I finally returned home, I found that it had been turned a Osean MP Battalion Headquarters!

"Umm...sorry to bother you but I'm looking for a woman and infant girl that lived here." I said, rather embarrassed.

They took me upstairs and lo and behold there was my woman and my daughter. It was if she hadn't been tortured by two revenge-seeking psychopaths after all. For a brief moment, it was if there had been no war and everything was as it was before it even started. She still had a gash on her face, but that did not take away from her beauty. She was still the same person I met all those months ago in Versua. But I was much different. In Versua I was a beast and a daredevil, in Osea I was a widowmaker, and I returned home a proud father and husband free of war and horror. But I was not free. None of us would ever be free again. Ella was right. Every time I thought of something else, something from the war would come back. We were all tied to the cockpits of our planes. It stayed with us through everything. It would never let go. The demons of the Belkan War would never be forgotten by us, and they should not. Its lessons should be pounded into the minds of every child that born after the war and their children and their children's children. Aki would never understand what had happened to me. Evey would though. This is because I was going to mold her in my image. And at least she would know the inevitable futility of wars started by borders.

"I've missed you. She's missed you too." she simply said.

I took her from her mother's arms and held her close to me. I just looked at Evey. I looked right in her eyes and she looked back at me. She didn't cry at all. She was actually happy to see me. With that action, there was no more to worry about. It felt like the day she was born all over again. In a way, I felt reborn myself. There was no better feeling than that event. I was back where I truly belonged. I realized that wherever I went, I belonged there. There was no feeling of remorse or resentment from either of us. Aki knew it as well. She knew me all too well. She knew it all while she stayed here all alone during those times where I almost died. And yet, she maintained a faith like no other. All of this, while eventually taking care of a baby with only innocence and imagination. All this time I wondered if they could understand what I'd been through...and they did after all. They did not acknowledge it in words, but by their smiles, by my wife's lips brushing my own, and the sight of my own progeny. Aki knew and told Evey how much of a brave man her father was. They knew. And now it was over and there nothing to even think about in terms of a conflict. There was only peace and quiet, even if it only lasted for a mere couple of days. I was where I belonged. And that was my war.

Next: Epilogue


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

I am not a prophet. I am not a poet. I am not a saint, and I am not a devil. I am no longer a warrior. I once was, but everything that I believed in was false. I was led by false ambition and pride. I had an unafraid soul that was peerless to all. And yet, because of all this, I still look back in fear. Now, I am only me. I am now the person who was once the dreamer as a child. I dream of a world without terror. But that will never come to pass. The world is no longer in need of knights of the sky. Gone are the days of the air war the way we experienced them. The only thing that matters today are the ultra powerful weapons that continue to scale in size, sophistication, and destructive power. There may come a day when we pilots are no longer needed.

What happened to everyone after the war was a direct result of what happened during the war on some level, as the lessons learned would never be forgotten. Some had success, some had a final failure. Most of us didn't have the best paying jobs, but most of us found peace from the horror of war. Peace is our reward. There would no more savage fights over the Round Table, no more bombing, no more incinerations and no more death for us. But we did not forget.

But what happened to us? It is impossible to track the lives of the vast amount of people I flew and worked with. There must have been at least over three hundred different personalties and acquaintances I knew. What I have given you is at least...two or three dozen at the most. They are the truly important...and it is their lives that I remember the most. I will never forget my friends who saved my life and they whose lives I've saved in return. I'll never forget my enemies whose sheer hatred of me the soldier and all that we once stood for led them down a road to death and Hell. I will never forget the loves of my life. My long dead parents whom I still miss even today, then of course my wife and my children. I will never forget the sometimes unhinged, motley crew of Section Three who saved our lives when they didn't even have to.

So what did happen to us? My super intelligent wing woman, the yellow skinned Sienna and Manel tied the knot as expected. She works in "Corporate Osea", programming their computers. Though I felt it was an injustice to her talents since they always stuff her into the basement with the other computer experts. Manel went back to his roots and became a mechanic. Their kids are named, not surprisingly, Rafe and Santiago.

Max Sachsenburg survived the war and was captured in the Waldreich Mountains He was later brought up war crimes as he was suspected to have participated in the destruction of a civilian chemical factory in Hoffung, but evaded those charges due to a strange technicality in the universal justice code. All I know is that he snatched up some poor girlfriend of a Section Three pilot who died in a peacekeeping mission in Mund Valley just outside of the Avalon Dam(Note: you make the connection). We haven't spoken since the war ended. I do not know where he resides...or if he's even alive now. I can only hope he's finally found peace. I cannot find any motivation to speak badly of him anymore.

Freya Lanne and Sayla Hartmann dedicated the rest of their lives to helping rebuild our city. Although, Lovecraft's prediction proved true and they were unable to adopt Kei Nagase...much less find her. I still talk to them even today. I say this with no ego and only friendship and affection...but I will never change my opinion of them: they are the most fascinating people I've ever met.

Kyp "Katze" Kurron survived the war and was the one of the few pilots involved in the controversial incidents of May to avoid even being tied for war crimes. He was never the same after the war and had many hard times. He eventually found work as a mailman in Sudentor and still works there today as I've recently learned.

Jonathan Lovecraft, the famous Violet Dragon, retired from his mercenary life, and returned to Osea. He kept that vow he made on June 6, 1995 and has not flown a plane since. He became a dedicated family man and works at the same company Sienna does. Some only think of him as a traitor...but to us, he's a legend.

James Silver was cleared of war crimes charges and similar to Max's case, it was due to a legal technicality. He was dishonorably discharged for his role in the rogue organization. It was proven that he did not drop the bombs and he testified that he was only in the squadron because he was following orders. He was later recruited by the North Point Air Defense Force and fought in the Continental War of 2004-2005.

Ella Tsagi, the lady that lived by honor, returned to Yuktobania. Disgusted by war, she gave up her lifelong dream of being in the air force and resigned her commission eight hours after she returned to Yuktobania. She left the country forever and moved to Cape Landers and married a man who was related to Johnny "O" Fontaine. She has three kids and lives as a simple horse rancher, wanting nothing more to do with war. Though it was odd her choice of post-war profession she too was an extremely fascinating person.

Johnny "O" Fontaine and Kay "Esmeralda" Oppenhiemer married almost immediately after the war, in what they called "the end to countless interferences in our nuptials". The pair moved to Oured where Fontaine now works as a taxi driver and Oppenhimer works as a sports writer. They remain lively characters and they still argue about baseball.

Jamar "Jocko" Jones returned to the military and became the commander of a recon squadron. His wife Connie continues to delve into the hazardous war zones to report the news. All four of their children are in the military. But there was one regret even to this day...I never did find out why he called his wife, "Piper", of all names.

After the war, we went back to Obersalzburg to find the remains of my parents, or them if they were still alive. However, I discovered that an Osean reconnaissance plane had crashed into their house by accident, killing them before the firestorm even happened. It was some manner of bizarre redemption for me. I no longer had a reason to hate my enemies. For about a year, I worked several jobs around Koingsburg to maintain a living for my small family. However, I was approached by several Osean military officials and was given an offer to help train pilots for their air force. I instantly agreed and I was ironically stationed at Hierlark, the place we fought for so long. I'd spend the next twelve years helping to turn rookies into hardened fighter pilots. I dropped my old nickname...it had no meaning for me anymore.

But for all I did, for all that happened, for all the destruction and death I and the rest of us caused...I look back and saw all that happened for the good. I helped save Sayla's career, I saved my wingmen's lives, I saved countless people on all sides for my stand against the Sorrow of Belka, I took Aki from a horrible, war torn country and gave her a life she deserved. But this life of peace only served to mirror the life I once had. It was my childhood which created my persona as a survivor. A piece of me would never forget those times. I wanted to immerse myself into the life I once led. It was just like flying. Every time I sortied out I could die. But I always had my "family" watching my back. They were the ones that kept me alive. There was much love there, even as we broke apart. It was the same as my own family. I wanted to keep it there. But my parents were long gone, so I kept it in my own family. So about two years later, it was like I living my own parents lives again. We had a son, and we named him Michael after my father. Despite of all the hardships in each of the "homes" I lived...it was all worth it. Thus at the fundamental core, nothing really changed for me. And that would be my life.

Some look at this story and see vicious aerial killers being redeemed. Some may look at this and say that we were all basically good people caught up in a war not of our making. And in some manner of reason, they are right. This is why we all did so well after the war. We were smart and resourceful people...and most of us were young. We grew up with dreams of our own. And we for the most part managed to live them out. The guilty were punished and we who fought against it were rewarded. So now, we have few, if any, regrets.

And with that, my story is at an end. Make of it what you will. Call me a devil or an angel if you must; call me a traitor if you must. But remember, this is all of what I _know_. You may choose to believe it or not...I do not care. This tale is what I know and what I have seen. Most importantly, this is a tale is lesson for those too young to remember the Belkan War. But that is what I see it as; you may see it differently. You may see it as a romantic story, you may see it as a the tale of a tortured soul, or you may see it as betrayer spilling his guts...but this is still my story, and I have lived it. But you may make of it whatever you wish. However, I ask whomever reads this to take whatever lessons or interpretations you gain from my words...and do something with them. Look in your history books and see the result of a world of patriotism through rose tinted glasses. I can only hope you do the right thing. But I leave that choice to you...

The End.


End file.
